


Not the RFA I know

by ItsProbably3am



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Evil, Black Markets, F/F, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Murder, Mutilation, Non-Consensual Blow Jobs, Non-Consensual Bondage, Non-Consensual Spanking, Rape, References to Drugs, Sex, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:40:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 43
Words: 86,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24180733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsProbably3am/pseuds/ItsProbably3am
Summary: M.C. wakes up one night to a chatroom discussing strange, possibly criminal, things. When she investigates she finds conversations did not play out the way she remembered. What is going on? Is this one of Seven's pranks or... something worse?Can M.C. survive this criminal RFA long enough to get back home, or will she be corrupted herself?Inspired by the 'Mystic messenger characters as things on the Dark Web' Tiktok by @tyleraskedforit707 - MalwareYoosung - Black market and stalkerJaehee - HitwomanJumin - Human traffickingZen - Red roomV - The Doll MakerM.C. Catfish and scammerWarning: While their surface level personalities might seem the same, the RFA are terrible people in this. There will be more specific warnings at the beginning of each chapter. Also bad language throughout.
Relationships: 707 | Choi Luciel/Kim Yoosung, 707 | Choi Luciel/Main Character, 707 | Choi Luciel/Reader, Han Jumin/Kang Jaehee, Han Jumin/Main Character, Han Jumin/Reader, Han Jumin/Zen | Ryu Hyun, Kang Jaehee (Mystic Messenger)/Reader, Kang Jaehee/Main Character (Mystic Messenger), Kang Jaehee/Zen | Ryu Hyun, Kim Yoosung/Main Character, Kim Yoosung/Reader, Zen | Ryu Hyun/Main Character, Zen | Ryu Hyun/Reader
Comments: 1384
Kudos: 1451





	1. Something is different

**Author's Note:**

> Not much to warn about in this chapter since it's the introduction.  
> Some threats made, references to murder, torture and kidnapping but no gory details.

M.C. stared at her screen in horror. This was wrong. This was horrible! What the hell did they think they were saying?

Jumin Han: I think she'll fetch a nice amount  
Yoosung: how much?  
Jumin Han: 200,000 minimum  
ZEN: Well? Show us a picture then.  
ZEN: how are we supposed to judge without seeing her?

Jumin sent a screenshot of a tripter profile. The girl was very pretty; bright, innocent blue eyes and curly brown hair falling to just above her shoulders.

Jumin Han: Her name is Kim Cho  
Yoosung: Pretty!  
ZEN: so cute~  
ZEN: my viewers would pay good money to watch a girl like that scream  
Jumin Han: My buyers will pay more to own such a girl.  
ZEN: bastard you knew what I meant! Just give her to me for a day, you'll get her back alive  
Jumin Han: No. They will pay less if she's damaged.  
Jumin Han: We've been over this many times.  
Yoosung: some of your buyers like them a little roughed up, Jumin  
Jumin Han: We won't know what the buyer wants until I try to sell her.  
Yoosung: that' s true... So lets get her first then decide, yeah?  
Jumin Han: M.C. Will you reach out to her?

M.C. froze. How was she supposed to reply to this? She coordinated parties not... whatever this was. She was being pranked. She must be! But it was such a sick joke, so unlike Sevens usual pranks. As she fussed over an explanation more messages came in.

Jumin Han: M.C.  
Jumin Han: I'm waiting.  
ZEN: chill out. Its only been a minute. She's probably distracted by something  
Yoosung: she usually replies quickly when she's online though T_T

In a panic, she replied

M.C. : Yes! I'll contact her. Sorry... Its late, I'm tired  
Jumin Han: Good girl. If you're too tired to properly participate, go to bed.  
ZEN: don't be so harsh on the princess  
M.C.: I think I will. Good night!  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

She shook her head and sat up. She had been asleep, awoken by the new chat notification. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, switching on the lamp. Her head was reeling too much right now to lay in bed. Giving a brief glance around the room, she stood to get some water and then immediately spun back around to look at the window again. Since when were the curtains red?! No. That wasn't important.  
What was important was that the window was barred. She took a few steps backward, suddenly wanting to step outside even at this late hour. She grabbed the door handle and turned. More like, tried to turn... it wouldn't move. She paced the room several times, panic wrapping around her throat and squeezing tight. The apartment wasn't like this when she went to sleep, how could it be so different so suddenly? Had she hit her head and lost memories? She didn't feel injured, but why would she be suddenly locked in, in any case?

Sitting back on the bed, M.C. grabbed her phone. The chat she had left was still active, but she had no intention to rejoin. Instead, she looked to the archived chats. Surely there'd be clues there. Picking one from the previous day at random she read;

707: Hey hey heeeey~  
M.C. Hey Seven!  
Yoosung: Hi guys  
707: Guess what!  
707: Big score coming!  
707: Huge!  
707: Gonna get a new baby car ~  
707: :heartemoji:  
M.C. What is it?  
707: Someone working in the Koi and Lily Private Hospital clicked one of my links ~  
707: Their whole system has fallen to  
707: [Drumroll]  
707: [More drumroll]  
Yoosung: Hurry up and tell us!  
M.C. Yeah, we're waiting!  
707: RANSOMWARE  
Yoosung: Isn't that hospital super expensive?  
707: Yep!  
707: Demanding just enough for a new Tesle  
707: and some accessories  
707: It'll be so beautiful ~  
M.C. What's ransomware?  
Yoosung: U don't know?  
707: Basically, every computer system they have...  
707: Is totally unusable!  
707: Unless they pay up!  
707: And if they don't pay in 24 hours...  
707: It destroys all their data and operating systems!  
Yoosung: and a hospital with such rich clients has the money to spare  
707: They also really don't wanna piss off/lose their patients  
M.C. Wow Seven! You're so smart!  
707: o.< you know it!  
707: Yoosung!  
Yoosung: what?  
707: One of the cleaners at that hospital is in debt  
Yoosung: so?  
707: Well the hospital isn't going to realise they're missing supplies if their system isn't working  
707: So! The ever generous God Seven has given u the opportunity to stock up on product ~  
707: Do u want his phone number?  
Yoosung: Obviously! 

M.C. closed the chat and took a breath. That wasn't how she remember that conversation at all. Hadn't it been about Sevens cardboard stocks finally rising? It certainly wasn't putting peoples lives in danger for money. Also that stuff about Yoosung stocking up on product... what kind of product? None of this made sense.

With that thought she scrolled all the way back to the first chat on her phone, which was quite a feat, she'd been in the RFA for months – That would have more answers, surely...  
It started exactly the same as she remembered, and she was starting to relax reading through it, when it deviated from her memory – just as Jumin made his threat;

Jumin Han: M.C. … Who are you?  
Jumin Han: Reveal yourself, stranger.  
Jumin Han: If you do not reveal yourself, you will pay.  
ZEN: Yes. Do not go poking around in that apartment, or you'll be sorry  
707: U should watch what u say now that ur a famous actor  
ZEN: I'm not famous, just a bit recognizable  
Yoosung: Besides, you're not going to let this stranger leave the apartment are you, Seven?  
707: Of course not!  
Jaehee Kang: ...An abrupt stranger.  
707: Hacking now!  
Jumin Han: Whoever you are. I advise you reveal yourself right now.  
Yoosung: And sit down! Don't touch anything or we'll make u regret it ~  
M.C. My name is M.C... Who are you all, what is this place?  
Jaehee Kang: Could it be that we have a security breach?  
ZEN: Maybe. M.C., how did you get in here?  
Yoosung: Is it really Rika's apartment?  
707: Yup. It's for sure....  
707: How did it get the apartment password?!  
M.C. I'm flustered too. I was connected to a stranger through a messenger app and he sent me the address  
Jumin Han: How naïve.  
ZEN: So cute lol  
ZEN: Went to an address from a chatting app lolol  
Yoosung: Don't listen to strangers~ The world is dangerous.  
Jaehee Kang: I agree.

None of them had introduced themselves. No selfies were sent. In fact, they had actively threatened her rather than made fun of Jumin! It continued similarly to how she remembered from there, with Seven asking about unknown and how she had got the app, and calling V. They had got really aggressive when she asked what the chatroom was for, warning her not to be too nosy. Jaehee made no mention of the police and Seven had actually sent a photo of M.C. when asked. It changed again when V begun speculating about who M.C. was;

V: If it's someone who knows the password  
V: It might be someone that Rika wanted to replace her.  
Jumin Han: Replace Rika?  
V: I'm only guessing...  
V: But Rika was making arrangements for a replacement before you know what happened...  
Yoosung: If she made that decision when she was alive...  
707: Oh ho ho~  
707: Then we have a new honeypot!  
707: She'd be a good fit too  
707: Our M.C. here is a naughty girl ~  
707: Catfishing might not be illegal, but using it for scamming money definitely is!  
M.C. How do you know about that?  
ZEN: Oh my ~  
707: I hacked you, remember?  
Jaehee Kang: In any case, we can't let her go now she has entered the apartment  
M.C. I just came here to find the owner of the phone... What is going on...  
707: Owner of the phone?  
707: You were phished lol  
707: someone like u should have figured that out  
V: So I think we can convince this M.C. to help us  
707: M.C. You might not have noticed yet  
707: But the door locked behind you ~  
707: And! From now on, I'm screening everything in and out of ur phone  
707: So no calling for help, okay?  
707: You won't reach anyone ~  
V: Everyone, it is safe to introduce yourselves  
Yoosung: okay! Rika founded this organisation to bring people with... certain skills... together  
Yoosung: We help each other make money!  
707: We're known as the RFA – Rika's Fundraising Association  
707: Posing as a charity means we can get out of some of our taxes  
Jumin Han: You don't pay taxes. The government doesn't know you exist.  
ZEN: I bet you barely pay any either, trust fund!  
ZEN: Your business probably does all the legal loopholes to pay as little as possible  
Jumin Han: Of course, that is only natural.  
ZEN: Meanwhile, the rest of us have to pay taxes on our income to avoid suspicion  
Jaehee Kang: We are off-topic. We are supposed to be introducing ourselves.  
Jaehee Kang: I advise we use this as an opportunity to let M.C. know the consequences of revealing any information about us  
707: Me first!  
707: I am Seven oh Seven, genius hacker and malware writer!  
707: I designed the security system of the apartment you're in, so I know you can't escape  
707: Also, there's a bomb in the apartment~  
707: So I can get rid of u at any time!  
ZEN: I'm Zen as Seven said earlier I'm an actor

Zen sent a selfie, just as M.C. remembered

ZEN: I also run a red room  
M.C. A red room...?  
Yoosung: He puts on a mask and tortures people over livestream  
Yoosung: People pay a lot to watch, I hear  
ZEN: Ya, and to choose what happens next  
Yoosung: I'm Yoosung! I run a black market, if you need something illegal, I'll get it for you

Yoosung also sent the same selfie that M.C. remembered

707: He's also addicted to LOLOL and a serial stalker lol  
707: Just an obsessive person in general lolol  
Yoosung: Hey!  
Jaehee Kang: I am Jaehee Kang. Those who hire me call me Assistant Kang.  
Jumin Han: She's a hitwoman.  
Jumin Han: I am Jumin Han, Director of C&R international  
ZEN: He sells people on the side  
Jumin Han: Yes. There is also V, our leader, known publicly as a photographer.  
Yoosung: Known... less publicly... as The Doll Maker  
Yoosung: He turns people into living dolls.  
Jumin Han: I'll make it clear for you M.C.  
Jumin Han: The people in this chatroom can very easily make you disappear without a trace.  
ZEN: And have you begging for death~  
ZEN: :winkemoji:  
Jumin Han: So do as we say and don't piss us off.  
Jumin Han: We own you now.  
707: And if you really don't get it  
707: Rika, the woman who's position you are filling, tried to leave about a year and a half ago  
707: She formed this group and even she wasn't safe  
M.C. What happened?  
Yoosung; V killed her.

She closed the chat abruptly, not wanting to read any more. This wasn't real, it couldn't be. V would never- could never kill anyone, let alone Rika! None of the RFA would do those horrible things they talked about. 

M.C. had never catfished anyone, or scammed them out of their money. If this was a prank from Seven then she'd have to give him a piece of her mind.

Maybe... maybe it was a nightmare. Though she'd heard somewhere that if you read something then re-read it in a dream, the words would be different. She hadn't tried that, but she didn't want to open any more chats.

Instead, she settled back down into the bed. Was her mind playing trick or were the bedsheets scratchier than before? Mind tricks, surely. If it was a nightmare, it would go away if she went back to sleep. So that's exactly what she did.


	2. Play along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking the RFA's threats seriously, M.C. decides that she will play along as best she can. At least, until she can figure out what's going on.  
> She discovers the details of her role for this RFA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Chapter contains some references to nudity and kidnapping.

M.C. awoke, not just to the sunlight filling the room through the, still red, curtains, but also to her phone ringing. Groaning, she picked it up and looked at the screen, to see Seven was calling. Good. She wanted a word with him. He spoke, cheery as always. as soon as she picked up;  
“M.C.! You picked up straight away! I wanted to talk to you!”  
“I wanted to talk to you, too” M.C. replied, glad to hear his voice sounded normal  
Seven gasped happily, “You did?! But me first, okay? I couldn't help but notice that the camera in your room cut out for a minute last night and then, you got up and tried to open the door!”  
M.C.'s breath caught in her throat, a camera in the room? No. It had always been in the hallway... If it was in the room then he could see... things. Seven had continued talking, seemingly oblivious;  
“You're not planning any escape now, are you? Because if you were that would make me mad!” his voice dropped “and you know the consequences of making me mad.”  
M.C. frowned “Alright Seven it's not funny any more. It wasn't really funny to begin with. Pranks over.”  
“Prank? There's no prank. What are you talking about?” he actually sounded sincere.  
“Really? Then... I don't understand what's going on...” M.C. put her head in her free hand “this is so weird”  
“What is it M.C.? What happened?” he really didn't know anything was different. That didn't make sense, he was he only one who could have changed the chatroom archives. He had threatened her just now too. Something had happened and honestly, M.C. was afraid this strange RFA would make good on their threats. It was ridiculous, they were her friends! But she couldn't shake it. She decided then that she would have to play along until she could figure this out. So, she made an excuse;  
“No... its nothing. Last night the chatrooms seemed weird and it kinda freaked me out. I guess I had a nightmare or something.”  
“Alright then. Anyway, you better contact that Cho girl soon, if you leave Jumin waiting he might pay you a visit,” he chuckled “though, I would like to watch that~”  
“I will. As soon as I'm up” she replied, chewing on her lip.  
“Good! Then I'll talk to you later. Goodbye~”  
“Bye.” she hung up. 

M.C. stood up and made her way to the bathroom. She filled the sink with cold water and plunged her head under. The cool seeped into her skin and cleared her mind. She had already decided to play along, but what exactly did that mean? If she wasn't convincing guests to attend a party, what exactly was her role? Air bubbles tickled her cheeks as she exhaled. In the first chat Seven had called her a honeypot and said she'd be suited to it as a catfish. Honeypots were traps, they lured people in. She must be bait of some kind and if it was related to catfishing then she must do it through the app. Which also made sense since she couldn't leave the apartment. 

She stood up and took a breath. Her next action was clear. It was actually the same as any normal morning since joining the RFA - get ready for the day and then check her emails. She brushed her teeth and took a shower, walking back into the room in a towel to get dressed. Just as she was about to drop her towel she remembered; Seven could see into the room. She had already decided to play along so she supposed... she had to play along. Besides, if there really was a camera in here then Seven had probably seen it all before. The thought made her feel strange. It wasn't like she found Seven unattractive, quite the opposite actually. But then... well if she was going to admit it to herself she might as well do it now. She had had a crush on every member of the RFA at some point or another. How could she not? But nothing had every happened with any of them.

M.C. steeled herself and let go, trying not to seem too rushed as she pulled her clothes on. Finally, she sat at the desk and opened the app again, going to her emails. They were organised into two folders 'Pending' and 'Completed'. The Pending folder only had one email in it. She left it for now, going to the 'Completed'. The most recent was from the night before, so she opened it and scrolled to the beginning.

From: Info  
To: User  
Subject: Jung Hana  
' Tripter profile - [Hyperlink]  
Home Address – [Address link]  
Email Address – HanaJungFishBun@forastorymail.com  
Send to – [Address link]  
Specific meeting point – [Image file] '

She opened the image file. It seemed like a lovely park. Lush, closely packed trees with tiny daffodils poking up through the grass. Another flower, a purple and bushy plant that she couldn't identify, lined the outskirts of this little secluded spot. M.C. was thinking about how nice it would be to picnic there when a prickle of anxiety ran down her spine. 

She studied it more closely, looking for the thing that must be off or wrong about it. There was nothing that she could put her finger on. Giving up, she continued to read the email chain.

From: User  
To: Jung Hana  
Subject: Hi there!  
'Hi Hana!

I saw your Tripter profile and I just had to say that you're so funny! I've been looking for a pen-pal to help me brush up on my writing skills and I think you could really help me. Since you need to be good at writing to make people laugh just through Tript posts. 

I really look forward to hearing back from you!  
Ha Yoon ' 

The emails continued just like ordinary pen-pals. They talked about themselves, their hobbies, and their friends. The two were so excited when they figured out they lived in the same area. M.C. noted that all the emails she had supposedly sent were full of lies, even using a fake name and sending someone else's selfies. In short – catfishing. Other than that there was nothing strange, until;

From: User  
To: Jung Hana  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hi there!  
'Hey Hana!

I've been thinking, since we're living so close, do you wanna meet up? Do you know this park [Address link] ? We could have a picnic!

Let me know when you're free :D  
Ha Yoon ' 

M.C. clicked the link, it was the same as the “Send to” link from Info. Frowning, she continued to read.

From: Jung Hana  
To: User  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hi there!  
' Hey Hey Ha Yoon,

That sounds super fun! I'll bring strawberry lemonade :P

I'm free on Saturday at 4 (in the afternoon lol). Is that good for you?  
Hana' 

From: User  
To: Info  
Subject: Meeting set  
'Saturday at 4pm'

From: User  
To: Jung Hana  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hi there!  
' Hi hi Hana,

That's perfect for me! I'll bring cake and sandwiches.

See you then!  
Ha Yoon ' 

From: Jung Hana  
To: User  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hi there!  
' Hello Ha Yoon,

I'm here! Where are you?  
Hana ' 

From: User  
To: Jung Hana  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hi there!  
' Come on Hana!

I'm right here! [Image attached]  
See you in a minute!  
Ha Yoon ' 

M.C. opened the image and flinched, dropping her phone as if it had burnt her. It was the same picture from Info. It was obvious what had unsettled her about it now; the seclusion.  
It was a trap.  
It should have been obvious from the start. God, that poor girl. 

How many people had fallen for this? How many were kidnapped from these emails? Shaking, she picked her phone back up. Her finger hovered over the screen, one flick and she would see, the screen would scroll and reveal the extent of all this. Instead, she tapped, opening another email chain and reading it through. She tried again and again, but ended up opening an email chain each time. 

She couldn't do it. 

She couldn't force herself to scroll further than the first screen, so she backed out and went to the Pending folder.

From: Info  
To: User  
Subject: Kim Cho  
' Tripter profile - [Hyperlink]  
Home Address – [Address link]  
Email Address – ChoChuChu@forastorymail.com  
Send to – [Address link]  
Specific meeting point – [Image file] '

M.C. had learnt, from reading the previous emails, that there was a formula to this. Go through the Tripter profile to learn as much about the... 'guest'... as possible. Use that to befriend the person (using a fake persona, the name seemed to change every time). Convince them to meet at the decided point, tell Info the time and date.

Could she do this? Could she send this girl into a trap? But... what would happen to M.C. if she didn't? Hadn't Seven warned her when he called? And all of those other threats she read the night before... Besides, that first email wasn't sending the girl anywhere, wasn't harming her. It would be best to send it, for now. She had decided to play along, after all.

M.C. typed up that first email. Just as she was about to click send the new chat notification popped onto her screen, making her squeak in surprise. Taking a breath, she dismissed it, there was no need to be so jumpy. Sending the email she decided to join the chatroom. 

707: hellooo~  
Jaehee Kang: Good morning.  
M.C.: Hello Jaehee  
707: M.C.!  
707: :heartemoji:  
707: :heartemoji:  
Jaehee Kang: Please don't spam the chat.  
M.C.: What is it?  
707: 'What is it?' lolol  
707: No use being coy now~  
Jaehee Kang: What are you talking about, Seven?  
707: M.C. decided to stop being a prude  
707: She finally changed in the room, not the bathroom~  
Jaehee Kang: …

Shit.

Stupid! She was so stupid! Obviously she would be in the habit of changing in the bathroom. Dammit! Play it off... Play it off!

M.C.: Liar.  
707: :gaspemoji:  
707: I am not!  
M.C. Yes you are! Stop messing with everyone  
707: you hurt me M.C...  
707: I could always send the screenshots to prove it~  
M.C.: No! Don't!  
707: oh ho ho~  
707: You revealed yourself  
707: (pun intended)  
M.C.: Seven you jerk!  
Jaehee Kang: I do not understand the excitement.  
Jaehee Kang: Surely you are used to seeing such things  
Jaehee Kang: Of course if Zen was in the apartment...  
707: Becauuuuuuse  
707: It was only her and no-one could see but me!  
707: Exclusive treats taste better  
M.C.: Like... Honey Buddha Chips?  
707: Exactly M.C.! You get it!  
707: Ooooh  
707: :questionemoji:  
707: Is that why you wanted it to be a secret?  
M.C.: No! I just...  
M.C.: It's inconvenient to always change in the bathroom  
707: Sure~  
Yoosung has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung: Hi everyone  
Jaehee Kang: Hello.  
707: Hi Hi!  
M.C.: Good morning!  
Yoosung: Did everyone eat breakfast?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes, thank you.  
707: Yep!  
M.C.: Not yet  
Yoosung: Don't wait until too late!  
Yoosung: Seven, i'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask a favour  
707: Hmm?  
707: But u already owe me for the hospital tip-off  
Yoosung: I know! But I really need this...  
Yoosung: I'll pay you back, you know I will  
707: Aww okay  
Yoosung: Great!  
Yoosung: [Address sent]  
Yoosung: [Address sent]  
Yoosung: I need all the cameras between these places to show Lee Kyong walking home from work as normal between 10pm and 11pm  
Yoosung: And I need my LOLOL account to be active from my computer during that time, even though I won't be there.  
707: That's a lot of work Yoosung  
707: You're gonna owe me big time!  
Yoosung; Please?  
707: yeah yeah... I got you  
Jaehee Kang: That's a man's name, not your usual  
Yoosung: It's not like that!  
Yoosung: He's the boyfriend of this cute girl  
Yoosung: but he doesn't deserve her!  
Jaehee Kang: So it's like that.  
Jaehee Kang: I see.  
Yoosung: yeah...  
Yoosung: Anyway, I gotta get to class  
Yoosung: Talk to you all later!  
Jaehee Kang: Goodbye  
707: Cya!  
M.C.: Bye  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang: Seven I realised something.  
Jaehee Kang: You're not usually awake this early.  
707: Ha ha!  
707: It's easy to be awake early  
707: If you haven't slept yet!  
Jaehee Kang: …Go to bed.  
Jaehee Kang: It's bad for your health to not sleep  
707: I've got some things to finish first  
707: But I will soon!  
707: So I guess I'll get going  
M.C.: Bye Seven, sleep soon  
Jaehee Kang: I must go too.  
Jaehee Kang: Goodbye.  
707: byeee~  
707 has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.

M.C. set her phone down. Every chatroom left her more confused than the last. If Jaehee was right, and Seven was used to seeing 'such things' why was he so happy about what happened today? And what could Yoosung possibly be planning? Nothing good, that was for sure. Leaning back in the chair M.C. massaged her temples. Part of her wished she had asked, but she remembered their hostility to questions in the first chat. Maybe that had changed in the months since, but she would need to read more archived chats to know.

Not right now. She couldn't handle it right now. Instead, she picked up a book, desperate for a distraction.


	3. Livestream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> M.C. tries to find some information on her situation while she waits for Zen's promised livestream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: references to nudity and decriptions of violence and torture

It was about two hours later when her phone dinged; another chat. Feeling calmer, thanks to the reading break, M.C. joined.

ZEN: M.C. Hello!  
M.C.: Hi Zen!  
ZEN: I saw what Seven said  
ZEN: What game are you playing, babe?  
M.C.: Please don't mention it...  
ZEN: If you're lonely you can always ask me to come over~  
M.C.: No thank you  
M.C.: I just wanted to start using the place normally...  
ZEN: And give Seven a show twice a day?  
ZEN: Not fair, M.C.!  
ZEN: You know how hard it is to get him to share recordings  
M.C.: No!  
M.C.: I guess I didn't think about it enough  
ZEN: Hmm, be more careful~  
M.C.: You're right, I will be  
ZEN: I wanted to let everyone know  
ZEN: I'm livestreaming tonight at 11:30pm  
ZEN: [Link sent]  
ZEN: Free of charge for you, princess.  
M.C.: Thanks Zen, I'll be there!  
ZEN: :happyemoji:  
ZEN: I'm glad

Zen sent a selfie. In it, he's winking at the camera with a street in the background.

M.C.: Handsome Zen!  
ZEN: Thank you!  
ZEN: I wanted to keep you excited for later  
ZEN: but... I have rehearsal now  
ZEN: I want to talk to you more, M.C. but I have to go  
M.C.: Good luck!  
ZEN: Be back soon!  
ZEN has left the chatroom.

A livestream. Zen had never livestreamed that she remembered. After a moment, she remembered something being mentioned about it in that first chat, but she didn't want to go back and look. She couldn't avoid it much longer. She needed some kind of explanation before she officially went mad. With that thought, she opened the browser on her phone and looked up ' changed memories ' 

It took some research, but she finally found something that seemed to fit. It was called the 'Mandela effect' – basically a large group of people become convinced of something happening that never happened; or they all remember events playing out differently to how they actually did. Well, she was only one person, but she had no way of knowing if other people were experiencing the same thing as her. Okay. This seemed plausible. So what causes the Mandela effect? Government cover-ups, dimension shifts, or inaccurate news reports. 

The only explanations were two conspiracy theories and one thing that didn't apply to her situation. _Wonderful_. Tossing her phone to the side in exasperation, she huffed and stood up. It was past lunch now and she still hadn't eaten breakfast. 

Not paying much attention, M.C. threw together some sandwiches and sat at the table to eat. She ate robotically, not really feeling hungry. She just couldn't shake the knowledge that something was wrong, was different. She couldn't have just made up a whole different RFA. It was almost like she had switched places with someone else. Someone who looked exactly like her and had the same name. The words ' dimension shift' flashed in her mind but she shook them off. It was ridiculous. That kind of thing only happened in fiction. Although, there were some things she had heard in the past that made her wonder. Like that man who showed up in an airport with a passport from a non-existent country. 

Picking up her phone again she looked up 'signs of a dimension shift' and picked the top result;  
“ 5 signs of a dimension shift  
1) Objects around you have a different appearance  
2) People that you know have different personalities  
3) Electrical interference (at the time of the shift)  
4) The laws of physics are different  
5) History has changed.”  
The article went on to further explain each of the five signs but she ignored that, reading the signs and then reading them again. They all applied in some way, even number three. Hadn't Seven said the camera had cut out the night before? Well... four didn't fit, as far as she could tell. Five only barely applied, world history was the same, surely. But the history of the RFA was different. Maybe she should look up some historical events to be sure, then she cou- Stop it.

M.C. closed the browser and put her phone down. She was going off the deep-end. This was how people ended up like those crazies on the conspiracy forums. There was no such thing as a dimension shift. It wouldn't help to make herself go insane.

Provided she wasn't already insane which, now that she thought about it, made sense. Didn't people who had experienced trauma sometimes make up their own, nicer, world to cope? Maybe the RFA had been bad people all along and something terrible happened to her because of it. Then her mind had broken and given her a dream-land where they were nice. If so, she wished her mind would unbreak so she could remember how to properly act with all of this. 

Her phone chimed for an open chatroom, she nearly ignored it. Then reminded herself to play along. No matter the explanation, it was best. Picking her phone back up, she joined the chatroom.

Jaehee Kang: Hello Mr Han, M.C.  
Jumin Han: Hello.  
M.C. Hey Jumin  
Jaehee Kang: I see Zen is livestreaming tonight  
Jaehee Kang: :interestemoji:  
Jaehee Kang: I'm very glad I don't have to work late tonight  
M.C. Something to look forward to for the end of the day!  
Jaehee Kang: Yes, very much so.  
Jaehee Kang: It's a shame he cannot show his face.  
Jaehee Kang: Such an unfortunate necessity, even an inch of his unmatched face would reveal him.  
Jaehee Kang: But none the less, we can feel his passion!  
Jaehee Kang: Him laughing as he finds something effective~  
Jaehee Kang: His shirt falling open to reveal his fantastic abs as he...  
Jaehee Kang: I'm sorry. I got carried away.

M.C. giggled, even this Jaehee couldn't contain herself when it came to Zen. Why would he need to cover his face though? Maybe a masked performance, like Zorro.

M.C.: It's okay Jaehee, I understand!  
Jaehee Kang: Thank you.  
Jumin Han: M.C. you changed in front of the camera?  
M.C.: Why can't we just forget about that?  
M.C.: Besides, it wasn't in front of the camera  
M.C.: It was in the room  
M.C.: Where I am living.  
Jumin Han: You know very well the camera is there  
Jumin Han: Why would you do that?  
M.C.: I already explained myself, can we please stop talking about it?  
Jaehee Kang: I think M.C. is embarrassed, Mr Han.  
Jumin Han: Perhaps she should be.  
Jumin Han: I'm not satisfied with the explanation.  
M.C.: Look. If I can't leave this place I want to be able to treat it as home as much as possible, alright?  
M.C.: I'm not going to do it again. I've learnt my lesson.  
Jumin Han: Interesting...

M.C. desperately wanted to change the subject. She should ask about Elizabeth, Jumin could always be distracted with that. But - did Elizabeth even exist? She couldn't leave the chatroom to check. 

707 has joined the chatroom.  
707: Jumin! I wanna see Elly~

Well. That answered that.

Jumin Han: Her name is Elizabeth the 3rd.  
Jaehee Kang: Hello Seven.  
M.C.: Hi Seven!  
707: Hi guys!  
707: Please Jumin!  
707: Show me her soft fur~  
Jumin Han: Fine. I wanted to send this picture anyway.

Jumin sent a picture of Elizabeth stretched lazily across some papers.

707: :heartemoji:  
Jumin Han: She found a contract comfortable last night.  
Jumin Han: I decided that it meant she thought that it was a good deal.  
Jumin Han: And I agreed.  
Jaehee Kang: It is not wise to base business decisions on where a cat chooses to lay.  
707: Elly is no ordinary cat!  
Jumin Han: Do not call her that.  
Jumin Han; An animals intuition is nothing to dismiss.  
Jumin Han: I had already mostly made up my mind about it anyway.  
Jaehee Kang: Even so...  
M.C.: Seven, did you see Zen's link?  
707: Oh! Zen is going to livestream today?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes.  
707: So fun! I'm gonna watch!  
Jaehee Kang: Don't you have to do something for Yoosung?  
707: I'll be done by the time it starts  
707: Don't doubt God Seven's skills!  
M.C.: Jumin, will you watch?  
Jumin Han: Not this time.  
Jaehee Kang: Mr Han, we have a meeting.  
Jumin Han: Is it that time already?  
Jumin Han: I must go, goodbye.  
Jaehee Kang: Me too.  
707: Bye guys, say hi to Elly for me Jumin~  
M.C.: Bye!  
Jumin Han has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
707: lolol so weird  
707: Do you think people at C&R notice that Jaehee doesn't do a whole lot of paperwork?  
M.C.: She doesn't?  
707: Of course not!  
707: Where would she find the time to do her actual job?  
M.C.: She probably passes it to someone else to do, then  
707: Probably!  
707: I guess she does all the other assistant stuff though  
707: Must be nice to have a large, legal, company like C&R to launder hit money through  
M.C.: How do you do it, Seven?  
707: That  
707: is  
707: a  
707: ~ secret ~  
M.C.: …  
707: Did you really think I would tell you?  
707: I wish I could see Elly in person~  
707: Jumin's a meanie  
M.C.: Me too. She's so cute.  
707: Right?  
707: Anyway, I gotta go  
707: Yoosung's little plan isn't going to prepare itself  
M.C.: Good luck!  
707: Thanks!  
707 has left the chatroom.

Man this was weird. They still mostly felt like the RFA she knew, but it was impossible to ignore the differences. Funnily enough, the money laundering wasn't the biggest surprise of the chat. It was the fact that Jaehee wasn't swamped with work! Still, M.C. felt like she was successfully settling in. She picked up her book again.

The rest of the day was uneventful. M.C. supposed that the others were too busy to come online. It wasn't until past 11pm that her phone chimed again. It was Yoosung;

M.C.: Yoosung, hi!  
Yoosung: Hello!  
Yoosung: :happyemoji:  
Yoosung: Mission successful!  
M.C.: Yeah? All went as planned?  
Yoosung: Totally!  
Yoosung: He won't be bothering anyone again~  
M.C.: That's great  
Yoosung: but M.C....  
Yoosung: You changed in front of the camera?!  
Yoosung: :gaspemoji:  
Yoosung: And Seven didn't make you do it?  
M.C.: Not you too, Yoosung... I thought you knew already?  
Yoosung: I didn't have time to read the whole chat when I joined earlier  
Yoosung: Sorry. I'll talk about something else.  
M.C.: Thank you.  
M.C.: Did you see Zen's link?  
Yoosung: Yeah! So excited!  
Yoosung: I was going to play LOLOL tonight but I can't miss a livestream!  
Yoosung: Seven made my Guild mad at me anyway...  
Yoosung: :cryingemoji:  
M.C.: What did he do?  
Yoosung: I'm not exactly sure...  
Yoosung: but it looks like he was just being a huge troll  
Yoosung: and I can't tell them it wasn't me, or it'll ruin the point.  
Yoosung: So mean...  
M.C.: You'll have to find a way to get back at him  
M.C.: Maybe you'll get the chance when you return the favour?  
Yoosung: Maybe!  
Yoosung: Hey it's nearly time for the livestream, I'm gonna go watch  
M.C.: Me too!  
Yoosung: Bye bye!  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.

Oh Yoosung, what did you do? He was black market, which wasn't usually a violent undertaking as far as M.C. knew. In any case, she just couldn't imagine Yoosung acting violently, even if he was a criminal. Maybe he just threatened the guy. She scrolled back to the other chat, looking for Zen's link. Finding it quickly she clicked and was immediately taken to a login page. Thankfully, it auto-filled. M.C. didn't recognise the site, so she wouldn't have been able to remember the password. What had Yoosung meant when he asked if Seven made her do it? Did the Seven of this world do things like that? To her? The livestream hadn't started yet. The thought of Seven doing those things was... she didn't know what it was. M.C. never got to figure out how she felt about it, because at that moment her whole body locked up. She couldn't move, could barely breathe. 

Zen's livestream had started. 

Her screen showed a man tied to a chair and gagged. Something dripped from a wound in his head. It was hard to tell, as the room was bathed in red light, but it had to be blood. He struggled and strained, his grunts of effort muffled in the gag. His struggles grew more desperate as someone entered the room, a man in all black, with a full face mask. There weren't even eye-holes. It had to be Zen. He stepped towards the camera;  
“How's everyone doing tonight?” it didn't sound like Zen's voice. It didn't really sound like a humans voice. It must be disguised somehow. He turned to the bound man, who was trying to yell at him through the gag;  
“Hush for a minute, my friend. This is your first time, so I need to explain the rules. Also for anyone watching who might be new too! Don't worry, I'll remove that soon, we all want to hear your voice,” M.C. couldn't see it, but she was sure he winked.  
“What's going to happen is, I'm going to play with you and our lovely audience is going to donate to decide what happens next. Higher donations have higher priority, everyone!” He turned to the camera for that last line, wrapping an arm around the man's shoulders and pointed to something behind the camera, “We'll see what's up next on that laptop. And do you see that red line? They'll donate to that one if they find you boring. If it reaches the top...” He grabbed the man by the chin and forced him to look at him, “I'll kill you. So try and keep us entertained, hmm?”

Zen let go of the man's chin and untied the gag. Immediately, he started shouting;  
“You mother fucker! You can't do this! Let me go ri-” his head whipped to the side as Zen smacked him across the face.  
“Do you really think it's a good idea to piss me off?” he trailed a finger across the man's hand, almost like a caress before CRACK! The man screamed and thrashed as Zen seized his finger and broke it in one motion. M.C. begged her body to unlock, to at least let her look away, she didn't want to watch this! Yet she stayed rigid, unable to tear herself from the screen as Zen effortlessly snapped another of the man's fingers.

A chime sounded and Zen looked up,  
“Ah! Our first donation from 'redstainedmirrors'. Looks like I'll be carving a happy face into your chest. Thank you beautiful viewer! He definitely could look happier, hmm?” He picked up a knife from a table off-screen and cut the man's shirt open. Tapping the tip to the man's left pec he mused;  
“I think here is a good spot...”  
“Please don't! My family has money, just let me call them and- ah!” The man's begging devolved into a whimper as Zen dug the knife in, clearly unmoved by the plea. He took his time, wiping away blood as it spilled from the fresh wounds. One eye. Two eyes. A chime went off again, but Zen ignored it. A nose and mouth. Finally a big circle to finish the whole thing off. The man had started weeping somewhere around the nose. Blood dripped from the eyes, almost like that face was crying too.

Zen looked to the screen again,  
“Oh ho~ A suggestion from one of my VIPs and it's nasty! My good friend 'The Assistant' thinks we should shock you,” he tapped the inside of the man's legs “on the thighs. And we all know where that electricity is going to want to go~” He grabbed a car battery and set it on the floor, it had two jumper cables and a button. After cutting away a section of the man's trousers he attempted to attach the cables to the soft flesh of his thigh, but the man was struggling too much. Zen reeled back and punched him on the nose.  
“Stay still!” he hissed, moving back to attaching the cables, “There, ready.” He stood up, button in hand,  
“Zap.” he dead panned, before pressing, The man shrieked, throwing his head back in agony.

M.C. dropped her phone and ran, skidding around the corner to the bathroom. The screams echoed behind her as she slammed the door, locking it before scrunching up into the corner.  
What the fuck?  
What the FUCK?!  
WHAT THE FUCK?!  
Her heart was racing, she was going to pass out. She couldn't breathe, why couldn't she breathe?  
How could he- how could anyone do those things?! Why would people pay for that? Was that Jaehee who had made the shock suggestion? This is what everyone was so excited to watch? She was sweating through her shirt- why couldn't she breathe?! Who were these people- they couldn't be her friends. Breathe. Breathe! She had to breathe! M.C. took a halting, gulping breath. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. She wanted to go home.

Please let her go home.


	4. Too different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> M.C. struggles to find a way to cope in the aftermath of the livestream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild references to murder and torture

M.C. lost track of time, but slowly her breathing calmed. She gradually unfolded, sweat or maybe tears, dripping down her face. The pallid coldness of the room finally reached her as she lay on the floor. Reading about the occupations of this RFA had been one thing. Seeing Zen in action was another entirely. Were they all capable of that?

How could she hope to blend in with these people? Did she even want to any more? She should tell them. Explain that she had no idea what was going on. Ha. Good one. 'Hey guys, I actually remember that you are all nice people so I think there's been a mistake, I'll just go home now.' Even if they believed her, they wouldn't let her go. And what if they suspected a trick? What would they do to her if they thought she'd try to betray them? She'd end up a guest of Zen's red room – or maybe worse!

There was no choice, really.

How could she stomach this? The thought of the RFA she knew doing those things made her sick, not the RFA, not her friends. Then she realised. Why did every discovery for the past few days have to be awful? She needed to forget them. She realised that the comparison to the sweet and kind RFA was making this near impossible to handle. If she could cast those memories away; think of the RFA as just a bunch of criminals, holding her against her will, this would be so much easier. But without the good memories, what would she have left?

M.C. peeled her body off of the floor;  
“Let's not be too drastic,” she told herself “just deal with things as they happen.”. Scraping her hair back, she opened the door and peered out, as though a dangerous animal roamed close by. No screams could be heard, so she stepped out and approached her phone. The livestream had apparently ended while she was away and a chat had opened. 

ZEN: Hi everyone!  
Yoosung: Hi Zen!  
Jaehee Kang: Good evening.  
707: Howdy!  
ZEN: Did everyone like the show?

Zen sent a selfie. Blood spattered his shirt and neck. His face was clear of it, beside a smear on his cheek where he rested the flat side of a bloody knife. 

Jaehee Kang: :interestenoji:  
Jaehee Kang: Yes, it was excellent as always!  
Yoosung: Yeah Zen, really nice work  
Yoosung: You sure showed him who was boss!  
ZEN: :happyemoji:  
ZEN: Thank you!  
M.C. has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung: Hey M.C.  
707: hello!  
Jaehee Kang: Hello.  
ZEN: M.C. You're here!  
ZEN: What was your favourite part of the livestream?

Crap. Of course this wasn't going to be easy. She couldn't exactly tell them how horrified she was. She had no idea what someone who watches a show like that would like. Best to deflect.

M.C.: I thought the shock between the legs was smart  
M.C.: Was that you, Jaehee?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes! Thank you!  
ZEN: It was a good suggestion  
707: The 'Zap' was funny!  
Yoosung: Yeah but did anyone else cringe a little?  
Yoosung: The thought of it happening to me is... T_T  
707: Cheer up Yoosung!  
Jaehee Kang: It is best not to imagine.  
707: Something like that won't happen to you  
707: As long as you're more careful than u were tonight  
Yoosung: What do you mean?  
707: 'Someone' was caught on camera!  
707: Dumping a!!  
707: suspicious large object!!!  
707: in the lake!!!!  
Yoosung: :shockemoji:  
Yoosung: WHAAAAAAT?!  
Yoosung; No way!  
Yoosung: I know that route so well  
707: It's a new camera  
707: the landowners put it up last week  
Yoosung: Why would they do that!?  
ZEN: Probably because bodies keep showing up there  
ZEN: I keep telling you to use different places

Of course. Of fucking course. Not even the different Yoosung was above being a disgusting person. Could this day not even give her the slightest break?

Jaehee Kang: You should have been more careful  
Yoosung: What am I gonna do? T_T  
707: You're going to owe God Seven another favour!  
707: I replaced it with blank footage  
Yoosung: Thank you...  
ZEN: Are you sure you want to owe Seven so much?  
Yoosung: I don't have much choice...  
707: Nope!  
707: How about you come over tomorrow?  
Yoosung: Fine  
ZEN: Have fun you two!  
ZEN: I need to go though.  
ZEN: Time to clean up  
Yoosung: I'm gonna go too  
Yoosung: Need to make up to my Guild  
Yoosung: For whatever you did, Seven  
707: Lololol  
707: Byeeee  
Jaehee Kang: Have a good night, Zen.  
M.C.: Goodnight!  
ZEN has left the chatroom.  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
M.C.: What did you do, Seven?  
707: Not much!  
707: Just...  
707: Well maybe his guild has one less alliance now  
M.C.: Ouch...  
Jaehee Kang: Why does it matter?  
707: Because!  
707: To people like Yoosung  
707: LOLOL is life!  
Jaehee Kang: That is...  
Jaehee Kang: concerning.  
Jaehee Kang: Surely his time could be spent on better things.  
M.C.: I feel like you could say that about most college students  
Jaehee Kang: Perhaps.  
Jaehee Kang: He should still pay more attention to his studies.  
M.C.: I'm sure he'll be fine  
Jaehee Kang: Hopefully.  
Jaehee Kang: I'm going to go.  
Jaehee Kang: Goodnight  
M.C.: Bye Jaehee!  
707: Bai  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
707: Hey M.C.?  
M.C.: Yeah?  
707: You okay?  
M.C. Of course. Why?  
707: No reason!  
707: Did you have dinner?  
M.C.: No, I guess I forgot  
707: It's too late for a proper meal  
707: So maybe have a snack before bed!  
M.C.: Did you eat?  
707: Just my usual!  
M.C.: That's not a meal, Seven.  
707: Pfff, genius brains need excess carbs  
707: But you shouldn't run on a diet like mine!  
M.C.: I know Seven, thanks.  
707: :winkemoji:  
M.C.: I'm gonna go to bed  
707: Aww, already?  
M.C.: Yeah  
707: Okay.  
707: Hope you feel better tomorrow!  
M.C.: What?  
M.C.: I said I'm fine  
707: I guess u did!  
M.C.: Goodnight, Seven  
707: Bye!  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

As soon as she left the chat, her phone started to ring. It was Jumin;  
“M.C. I hope it's not too late.”  
“No, but I was hoping to get to bed soon.” She replied, too late she realised her voice was shaking.  
“Are you okay?” Jumin asked, not one to miss a detail like that.  
“Y-yes! I just, found today a little stressful, that's all.” it wasn't technically a lie  
“Is Seven there?” he asked suddenly  
“No, why?” she responded, confused  
“I just thought he might've paid you a visit after this morning...”  
“Seriously Jumin, again? We've been over this”  
“I told you, I was not satisfied with the explanation” a hint of annoyance had crept into his voice, “what exactly did you hope to achieve by displaying yourself for Seven?”  
“Come on, Jumin. It wasn't like that.”  
“Hmm.” He clearly wasn't convinced “I'm going to come and visit you tomorrow evening.”  
“O-okay, I guess I'll see you then”  
“Yes. Rest well.”  
“You too, Jumin. Goodnight”

Well, that was weird. But still, she'd get to see Jumin! A strange... criminal... version of Jumin, who might be angry at her... Well, there was nothing she could do about it, she supposed. So... don't think about it until it happens. For all she knew he might just be stopping by for a chat. Because Jumin was definitely the social type. Yep.

Time for bed. She grabbed some pyjamas and went to the bathroom. Despite having showered in the morning, she had sweat so much in her panic before that she definitely needed another, some pampering was in order too. M.C. exfoliated herself from head to toe and shaved her legs. The hot water streaming down her back helped her relax the tension in her shoulders that she hadn't even realised was there. Leaning against the shower wall she washed and conditioned her hair. She slipped out of the shower and dried herself leisurely.

The silk of the pyjamas was heavenly against her newly softened skin. Loose and relaxed she languidly slid into the bedsheets. Perhaps she was exhausted from the stress of the day. Perhaps it was the relaxation of her shower. Probably both. No matter the reason, she immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Jumin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was having a good day until he came over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence, non-consensual bondage, non-consensual spanking, non-consensual blowjob, rape

The next day was, thankfully, mundane. Cho had replied to her email and she sent off a reply easily, it was just getting to know her after all. For now at least, she tried not to think about the end-game. The day was calm enough for M.C. to realise just how hungry she was. Turns out only eating one meal the previous day will do that to you. She was halfway through her second lunch when a chat opened. Like everything else that day, the chats had been very normal, so she joined without hesitation.

M.C.: Hi Yoosung!  
Yoosung: Hey M.C....  
M.C.: Something wrong?  
Yoosung: Yss...  
Yoosung: Im sppsed to be vsting Svn  
M.C.: Typos...  
Yoosung: Sorry. Wasn't looking while I typed  
Yoosung: I'm supposed to be visiting Seven  
Yoosung: I'm trying to get through his gate  
Yoosung: But it keeps asking me 'What are you?'  
Yoosung: and I can't give it a right answer!  
Yoosung: :cryingemoji:  
M.C.: Did you try LOLOL addict?  
Yoosung: Oh! Maybe that's it!  
Yoosung: No...  
707 has joined the chatroom.  
707: Yoosung!  
707: You're late!  
Yoosung: Your gate won't let me in!  
707: Just answer the question  
707: What are u?  
Yoosung: I don't know Seven  
707: You don't?  
707: Do I have to teach you this again?  
M.C.: You told him before?  
707: Yeah obviously  
707: Don't you remember Yoosung?  
707: I taught you last time!  
Yoosung: Seven...  
Yoosung: Not that...  
M.C.: What?  
707: Yeah Yoosung! What?  
Yoosung: Are you seriously going to make me tell your gate that I'm a slut? T_T  
707: :shockemoji:  
707: No!  
707: Never!  
707: You're a LITTLE slut  
M.C.: uh...  
Yoosung: Come on, Seven...  
Yoosung: It worked.  
707: yay!  
Yoosung: Guess I'll talk to you later M.C.  
M.C.: Have fun!  
707: We will!  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
707 has left the chatroom.

What? Were they...? No. Surely not. Seven was just messing with Yoosung, as usual. Finishing her lunch, M.C. decided to clean the apartment. It wasn't dirty, but not spotless either. Would Jumin even be comfortable in a small place like this? M.C. pulled up short. Jumin was coming _here_. To Rika's apartment. He hadn't even asked for the address.

Had he been here before? Rika's apartment had always been strictly off-limits. Was that not the case for this RFA? Ironic. On the positive side, that meant that she could invite the RFA members to hang out, even if she was trapped here. Or – maybe that wasn't best idea, given what she had seen the day before. Jumin was coming over regardless, she could decide if she wanted to based on what happened this evening. 

With that in mind she worked to bring the apartment to as close to Jumin's standards as she could hope to get it. Counters were scrubbed, the floor was mopped and shelves were dusted. M.C. blew her hair from her face. The apartment was clean, but now her clothes were filthy. 

She looked through the drawers and picked out something new to wear. A sundress would do. Just as she was shutting them, a flash of red caught her eye. Curious, she opened it again and grabbed the bright scrap. A ribbon, it was cute, a nice find. She'd use it to keep her hair out of her face. Heading to the bathroom, she got changed. Ready! Or was she? Was she missing something? Would he be expecting dinner? She hadn't thought of that. What could she cook? What did she even have here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and someone stepping inside quickly. She poked her head out of the bathroom,  
“Jumin! I wasn't expecting you so soon”  
Removing his jacket, he shut the door behind him. He was perfectly put together as always; navy suit with a matching tie and striped shirt;  
“That's alright, I neglected to tell you when I'd arrive. I wanted to see you as soon as I could get away from work,” He held up a bag “And I had my chef make us dinner”  
“Wow, thanks!” she stepped out and took the bag, “Are you hungry now or do you want to wait?  
“Now is fine. Did you have a less stressful day today?”  
“Yes, thank you.” she replied as she plated the food “How about you?”  
“Not particularly productive, I was distracted. Could you pass me some wine glasses?”  
“What was on your mind?” she passed them over and Jumin pulled a wine bottle from the bag, filling them both.  
“I'd rather not talk about it now” he told her. M.C. served the plates and they sat across from each other.

Conversation flowed easily, as did the wine. Soon M.C. felt that familiar warmth in her cheeks and numbness in her fingers that had her fumbling slightly with the cutlery by the time they finished eating. Jumin was affected too, he had loosened his tie somewhere around the fourth glass and removed his blazer. M.C. had even managed to make him chuckle a few times. Even so, it was clear his reputation for holding his drink was true, Jumin still seemed perfectly able to function. 

Doing her best to keep it together, M.C. gathered up the dishes and set them in the sink. She was about to sit down when Jumin grabbed her wrist and yanked. Gasping, she fell into his lap and he snaked his arms around her waist.  
“Now. Shall I tell you why I was so distracted today?” he asked.  
“Uh. Yes.” her breath hitched, his face was so close to hers. If she wanted, she could lean in and...  
“It was because I knew you were sitting home all day, unpunished” faster than her hazed mind could follow, he had flipped her over and pulled her arms behind her back.  
“For- for what?” she squirmed to get away as he used something to tie wrists together.  
“You know very well what.” he stood, pulling her up with him and pushed her towards the bed.

M.C. was face down on the bed before it even occurred to her that it was time to be scared;  
“Jumin! Hold on a minute! Wha- umf!” Jumin quickly pulled her ribbon from her hair and tied it around her mouth.  
“Be quiet.” he commanded, pressing his hand between her shoulder blades “And stay still a moment. I have something to take care of,” he moved away from her. She stayed frozen to the spot, what was he planning to do? Was he going to hurt her? There was shuffling behind her for a minute before the pressure of Jumin's hand returned. Later, he would have to deal with Seven complaining about how he had blocked the camera, but he didn't care. 

After a moment of tension that had her ready to scream, a muffled THWAP rang out. M.C. felt it a second later and tears sprang from her eyes. He had spanked her. Immediately, the sound echoed again and she yelped into the gag. Getting in another good hit, Jumin decided that her skirt offered too much protection and flipped it up. He set a steady rhythm and M.C quickly lost count of how many times he had struck her. Finally, when he was satisfied with the cherry-red hue of her flesh, he pulled away. Pulling her by the shoulder, to lay on her back, he instructed her to sit up. She did so quickly. The fabric of the bedsheets burned as it touched her abused skin. 

“Take it off.” another order, given as he untied her wrists. She saw then that he had used his tie. Take it off...? But that would mean... no! Sniffling, she looked up at him. His piercing gaze met hers and it was clear that he was dead serious. Fearing further punishment, she pulled the dress over her head and dropped it to the side. He didn't move, continuing to watch her in that predatory way. It was clear he wanted more.

Taking a deep breath M.C. unclipped her bra and let it fall from her shoulders. Trying not to whimper, she pulled off her last scrap of protection and sat there, nude, in front of him. Sitting beside her he began to untie the ribbon,  
“I don't want to hear a word from you,” he warned before letting it drop from her mouth and gesturing to his obvious arousal “deal with this.” Trembling, M.C. dropped to her knees between his legs and reached for his belt. This was too much. She didn't want this! This was not how her first time should go. She shook her head.

The blow to her face was hard enough to send her sprawling. Before she could catch her breath, Jumin had seized her by the hair and dragged her back into position. He didn't let go, holding her in place by the tight pull on her hair. Now crying openly, she unbuckled his belt and freed... it. What if she did it badly? What would he do? Taking the tip into her mouth she tried to replicate what she had seen, and read, in porn. Pain was blossoming over the side of her face. She took his low groan as a sign she was doing it right and kept going. As time went on, it became more difficult to see out of her left eye. Suddenly, Jumin pulled her head further down, choking her. He let go a moment later and she sucked in a breath just before he did it again. She kept going as best she could until he pulled her off. Letting go of her hair he ordered her to stand.

Moving away from her, he revealed a small mercy, a lubricated condom, and put it on. M.C. fell backwards onto the bed as he collided with her. She landed under him, with an arm around his back in a failed attempt to catch herself. Wasting no time he entered her, drawing a shriek from between her sobs. Involuntarily, her hands balled into fists, grabbing the fabric from his shirt in one, and the bedsheets in the other. 

It hurts... It hurts... She could find no other coherent thought as he set a pace for himself. Time passed, she couldn't say how much, but eventually he shuddered, squeezing her tight and then relaxing. Slowly, he pulled away, laying on his side beside her,  
“Why act like you weren't expecting this?” he asked lowly, running his hand along her leg “You're so soft and ready. And you were wearing my ribbon” Waiting for a reply (that wasn't coming) he examined her.

Realising she was in no mood to speak, he stood and cleaned himself up, re-buckling his trousers.  
“Really? I thought you were over this.” still receiving no response he shrugged and gathered his things,  
“It was more fun for both of us when you chose to enjoy it, or are you just in a bad mood today?” M.C. just continued to cry. He sighed in irritation,  
“Fine. We'll talk about it tomorrow,” as an afterthought, he removed the covering he had placed over the camera, “Goodnight.”

With that, he shut the door and left her there with nothing to do but listen to her own sobs.


	6. Unknown message

“Hey Yoosung, you want some more chips before round two?” Seven asked, looking into his computer room. Stepping up behind him, he shook the chips like one would a treat bag for a pet “Yoosung~” he pouted a little when the shorter boy didn't respond,  
“Come on, if you're gonna stand there all sexy in your underwear you might as well dance for me” he tugged at his waistband. Pausing, he realised the blonde's usually bright eyes had darkened. “Someone kiss one of your girlfriends, that you've never actually spoken to?”  
“Look at her.” Yoosung was staring at one of his screens “Look what he _did_ ” he nearly spat out the words, glare trained on the apartment video feed.  
“What? Don't tell me you'r-oh shit.” he interrupted himself as he caught on to what Yoosung was seeing.

Eye blackened and cheek swollen, M.C. lay on the bed, whimpering weakly. Seven hoped Yoosung wouldn't notice the blood smeared on her thighs.  
“Man, I thought she'd had learnt to listen to him”  
“This is your fault Seven!” Yoosung pushed him away, storming out of the room  
“Me?! Why?!” Seven followed  
“You made Jumin jealous! He wouldn't have gone over if hadn't said what you did!”  
“I only told the truth”  
“And you didn't have to tell anything. Don't touch me!” he snatched his arm back as Seven grabbed him  
“Where the hell are you going?”  
“I'm gonna kill Jumin”  
“Alright now you're definitely not leaving.” Seven made another move to stop him.  
“Yes I am.” Yoosung was adamant, even as Seven got a hold on him from behind  
“Listen to me, Yoosung!”  
“No! Get off! Get the fuck off!”  
“For a start you're not even dressed,” he locked the struggling male in his arms “Secondly you'd never get close to him” Yoosung strained to escape his grip. “Thirdly, even if you did manage it, you'd never make it back out alive. Finally, this isn't the first time he's done something like this, why do you care now?”  
The ball of anger sagged in his arms “I knew like, nothing, about her the first time. Now I... I've got to do something, Seven, he can't get away with this!”  
Seven kissed his temple tenderly “I know you're used to just charging in when those bad; bad men hurt your lovely girls, but that won't work this time, cutie.”  
“So what? I just let this go?”  
“Of course not,” loosening his grip, he moved to face the former fury and brushed his blonde hair from his face, “You wait, you watch, you remember. Then you find the perfect moment, perfect way, to punish. No matter how long it takes.” Yoosung's brow set in determination and he nodded once. “And right now you give her a call and cheer her up – she needs to get ice on her face A.S.A.P”  
“Y-yeah! Okay!” even in her current state, the thought of speaking to M.C. cheered Yoosung greatly. 

He bounded to the bedroom and grabbed his phone as Seven settled himself onto the sofa with his DS. As he returned Seven held his arm up, offering a spot to nestle which he took gladly, pressing against his side. The phone rang for longer than usual, or perhaps he was just feeling impatient, before finally it was answered.  
“M.C.! Are you okay? Uh.. you don't have to answer that, I know already.”  
“How?” her voice was so fragile  
“I'm at Sevens.”  
“Oh. I remember now.”  
“Yeah so look. I'm super mad at Jumin for doing that”  
“And for ruining my evening” Seven muttered. Yoosung smacked his arm before continuing;  
“But you need to ice your face, okay? Can you get up and do that now?”  
“Okay Yoosung.” he could hear her slow movements as she followed the instruction.  
“You got it?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Did I ever tell you about the time I tried hiking?”  
“No. I don't think so.”  
He told the anecdote as best he could. It was a good story, involving bee stings, a horribly failed attempt to use a natural cure for said bee stings, a face-plant into thick mud and best of all, a hastily scaled tree to avoid a bear that turned out to be a Chihuahua.  
“and that's why I only adventure on LOLOL” he finished.  
“That's funny, Yoosung” It didn't sound like she was crying any more, at the very least.  
“Hey, go take a shower and get yourself to bed, alright? And if you still wanna talk after, call me back.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Any time” he hung up

“Good?” Seven asked, glancing up from his game.  
“A little better” he nodded.

M.C. dropped her phone onto the bed and stood up once more. The ice-pack had helped, she could see a little more from the left and the ache had been taken out of the bruise for now. Slipping into the shower she winced and pulled away. The heat from the water, normally a perfect temperature for her, stung her damaged skin. She had to turn the temperature down by more than half before she could step under the water without pain. 

Unable to relax in the cold temperature, she washed as best she could without aggravating her injuries and followed up by bundling in fluffy pyjamas and curling up in bed. She briefly considered calling Yoosung again, his friendly voice had been so soothing, but saw he was in a chatroom, so she joined too.

ZEN: So Yoosung, you made up all your favours?  
Yoosung: Not yet...  
M.C. has joined the chatroom.  
ZEN: M.C., how kind of fate to have brought you to meet me  
M.C.: Huh?  
Yoosung: ???  
ZEN: It's a line from my rehearsal today  
ZEN: Don't you like it?  
M.C.: Oh. It's beautiful, Zen  
Yoosung: M.C. how are you?  
M.C.: Doing better thanks to your call  
Yoosung: I'm so happy to hear that  
Yoosung; :happyemoji:  
ZEN: Feeling better...?  
ZEN: Is there something wrong?  
M.C.: Thank you for worrying  
M.C.: but I'm alright :)  
ZEN: You can always call me too, if you're not feeling great  
ZEN: I'd be wasting my god-given gift  
ZEN: If I didn't use it to brighten your day  
M.C.: You're so sweet

Yoosung scoffed as ZEN sent a selfie, had he intentionally made a halo out of the light above him?

Yoosung: Narcisist...  
ZEN: I can't help but be beautiful~  
ZEN: M.C. when you gaze at the stars tonight, I will be blessed to have the same moonlight touch my face

Yoosung looked up,  
“Hey Seven?”  
“Hmm?”  
“Should we tell Zen what Jumin did?”  
“Patience, young padawan. Like I said before, wait for the right moment. But I'll send you the screenshots so you can choose when you want to do it, how's that?”  
“Sounds good.” Yoosung returned his attention to the chat a second too late, missing a few unusual messages. M.C., however, had seen them all.

Unknown has joined the chatroom.  
Unknown: $sudo -u root mysmeBypass  
Unknown: print(“I'm”)  
Unknown: print(“so”)  
Unknown: print(“sorry”)  
Unknown: tcpkill  
Unknown has left the chatroom.

As suddenly as they had appeared, the screen flickered and they were erased.

ZEN: uh...  
ZEN: Did anyone else see that?  
M.C.: See what?  
ZEN: There were messages from a user called 'Unknown'  
Yoosung: I didn't see anything  
Yoosung: You don't think...  
Yoosung: It was the hacker again?!  
Yoosung: What did they say?  
ZEN: something about a sumo  
M.C.: Seriously?  
ZEN: Yeah! It was weird!  
ZEN: They vanished before I got a proper look  
Yoosung: I'll tell Seven  
ZEN: Good idea  
Jumin Han has entered the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

Fuck that; M.C. reacted without thinking the moment she saw his name. She should try to sleep anyway. Exhaustion pressed on her much like it had the night before, yet she knew it would be difficult to drift away tonight. Forcing herself up, she checked the medicine cabinet. Empty as a liars promise. Because that would be too damn easy, wouldn't it?

She'd have to settle for some hot-chocolate. Making it quickly, she let any mess lay where it fell and crawled back into bed.

Yoosung grit his teeth as Jumin joined. Luckily M.C. had left before he said anything, but that also meant that he couldn't take the same exit.

Jumin Han: Good evening  
ZEN: Hello  
Yoosung: Hi.  
Jumin Han: M.C. left.  
Jumin Han: I was hoping to speak with her.  
Yoosung: Such a shame  
Yoosung: Better luck next time  
ZEN: What about?  
Jumin Han: That is none of your business.  
ZEN: I would have seen the conversation if she had stayed, I think I can know  
Jumin Han: Yes. However she didn't, so you wont.  
ZEN: Are you serious?  
Jumin Han: Of course.  
Jumin Han: I will tell you about Elizabeth the 3rd, instead.  
ZEN: I don't want to hear it  
Jumin Han: She greeted me so sweetly when I returned home.  
Jumin Han: She rubbed her soft cheek over my leg  
Jumin Han: and licked my hand so gently.  
Jumina Han: :happyemoji:  
Jumin Han: An angels kiss.  
ZEN: Angel? That furball?  
ZEN: Impossible.  
ZEN: An angel wouldn't make a face as perfect as mine react so much  
ZEN: Even now I feel it  
Jumin Han: Demons burn up in the presence of Angels  
ZEN: What are you implying?!  
Jumin Han: I think it's very clear.  
Yoosung: I'm just gonna go...  
Yoosung has left the chatroom. 

“I can always count on Zen to yell at Jumin, even if I don't give him a reason to.” he mused aloud.  
“What are they fighting about this time?” Seven asked absently, most of his attention devoted to Tetris  
“Something about Angels and Demons and Elizabeth” the Tetris theme stopped abruptly.  
“They're talking about Elly? I must defend my maidens honour!” he was pulling out his phone as he spoke  
“Alright, good luck. “ Yoosung laughed.

Not even five minutes had passed, Yoosung still tucked under Sevens arm, when he began to wonder how long it was possible to talk about a cat. Hoping to catch the red-heads attention, he huffed loudly and shifted his position. After a moment of no reaction, he did it again. Still nothing. Clearly the right move now was to just stare at him until he noticed. 

It didn't work. How did that not work!? Time for the last resort, initiate operation pokerface. Objective; Poke the squishy cheek. Reward: Attention.

Poke one. Success. Poke two, Success. Poke three- Seven nipped at his finger – Man down! Man down! They got Index!  
“What are you doing?” Seven questioned.  
“I'm bored!”  
“Go play LOLOL, there's plenty of spare computers”  
“Seveeeen, I wanna go to bed”  
“Okay so go.”  
“Come with meeeee” he whined  
“Oh?” He grinned down at him “You know what kind of person asks something like that?”  
“What?”  
“Come on, you know”  
“Nu uh!”  
“Yeah you do. Since you're the one who asked, and you know what you are?”  
“...I'm a little slut” he mumbled, face flushing  
“Huh? What was that?”  
“I'm a little slut.” he repeated  
“Yeah you are.” he scooped him up and carried him to the bedroom.

Somewhere in the mountains, a white haired man typed furiously at a computer. He prayed to all that was good in the world that she had seen the message. It couldn't fix what he had done, but it was a start. Stretching his aching shoulders out was the only break he deserved. He had never meant for anyone else to be caught in this trap. In the beginning he hadn't a choice, but his botched rescue attempt... that was all his own stupid fault. And while, technically, he had rescued the person he meant to (at least he hoped), he had also thrust an innocent right into her place.

He could handle his own errors causing him misery, but not anyone else. It was the greatest proof of an unjust world; that one could suffer for another's mistakes.

He swore he would make it right.


	7. Delivery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of abuse and rape

M.C. awoke to a sharp rapping on the door. She barely had the time to wake herself properly, let alone drag herself from the protection of the duvet, before a well dressed woman opened the door and stepped in.  
“Jaehee...?” the haze in her voice matched that in her head  
“Hello M.C. did you oversleep?” she walked into the kitchen and placed a few bags down  
“Was I supposed to be awake for something?”  
“It's Saturday, did you forget? I have your groceries”  
“Thank you Jaehee, you're so nice”  
Jaehee blinked at the compliment and peered at her curiously from the kitchen, “Me? Are you still asleep M.C.?” she sucked in a breath, spotting the mess Jumin had left her face “Or concussed.” she rushed over and gently pulled M.C. to sit up. Her cheek could've been mistaken for a plum with its current colour and her eye barely opened halfway. Taking out her phone, she turned on the torch and checked her eye movement.  
“I'm not concussed, Jaehee, I just didn't get a lot of sleep” M.C. reassured, rubbing her good eye.

“Have you not learnt by now? You know what to expect when one of them visits you. Why would you choose Mr Han, out of any of them to annoy?” she checked M.C.'s swollen eye as she spoke, pulling it open and prodding her swollen lids.  
“Annoy? That's what you want to call it?” M.C. pulled away from her, partially in pain, partially in anger  
“M.C. look...” She took off her shoes and knelt on the bed beside her “When I first joined the RFA I was resistant too, of course I was more able to refuse”  
“You, Jaehee?” the solidarity was comforting. Maybe Jaehee could be a good confidant in all of this. They had always gotten along well, after all.  
“Yes, and I learnt that it's easier, fun even, if you go along with it. Zen was the first”  
“Of course” M.C. interjected wryly. At least this Jaehee was able to do something with her pining.  
“And he's really good. They all are, if they want to be; and they want to be when they're not forcing it.”  
“I don't know if I can do that Jaehee, just let them like that” she sighed, hugging herself  
“So try and get in the mood maybe. It's not like they're unattractive, and you get along with us all in the chatrooms” she offered, placing a hand on her shoulder  
“That's true... but like, what if I can get in the mood for one but not another? Then someone could get mad at me”

Jaehee tilted her head. She was certain that M.C. had already noticed. Although it was an unusual situation, so she couldn't be blamed.  
“Haven't you realised?”  
“Realised what?”  
“This is difficult to explain. Basically, everyone in the RFA considers everyone else in the organisation as a partner. Those that fit together better tend to find each others company more often, of course. For example; I haven't been with Seven or Yoosung in quite a while. I'm fairly certain that once you're fully integrated you'll have that same choice.” Despite what she said, Jaehee had been able to explain clearly as always. M.C. liked that about her.  
“I've been in this organisation for months, Jaehee. I don't think there's any intention to 'integrate' me. I'm just a prisoner. You see what Jumin did.” M.C. responded dejectedly, gesturing to her face.  
“You have to accept us before we accept you. As for Mr Han... he's used to getting what he wants with force unfortunately. But if you become a partner to him, and us all, it won't happen again.” she sounded hopeful. Though M.C. couldn't distinguish if it was hope for her, or for her to join them. She mulled it over for a moment, running a finger down her tender cheek and feeling the sting.  
“Who fits, exactly?”  
“Seven and Yoosung. Then myself, Zen and Mr Han.”  
“Zen and Jumin fit?” that was a shock to say the least.  
“Oh yes! Watching them together is fascinating, it's like they're both trying to prove they're the best.”  
“Watching them? Jaehee's a pervert!” M.C. accused, giggling  
“The real pervert is Seven.” she turned and shook her fist at the camera “Get a better hobby!”  
“Yeah Seven!” she was laughing in earnest now and Jaehee offered a warm smile. The smile dropped when M.C. grabbed her check and grunted in pain.  
“I'll go back to the store and get you some painkillers, okay?”  
M.C. pulled her into a hug, surprising her. None the less she returned it, stroking her back soothingly.  
“Thanks, Jaehee. If you're not too busy, could you stick around after?”  
“I have a job tonight, but that's all prepared already, I can stay until the afternoon” she answered, pulling away. Standing up, she put her shoes back on and smoothed her skirt before heading out.

By the time she returned, M.C. was dressed and answering another email from Cho, having already put away the groceries. She hadn't had the appetite for breakfast. M.C. noted that the bag she carried was larger than a packet of painkillers required, and wondered if she had bought other medical supplies. Instead, Jaehee produced a big tub of icecream, a pot of cocoa powder and a bottle of vanilla extract, after handing her the painkiller packet.  
“I thought we could bake brownies to have with the icecream, you already have most of the ingredients.” Taking the other woman's grin as agreement, she began pulling out ingredients. M.C. finished her email and moved to help, handing her an apron.

A friendly debate erupted soon after weighing out the ingredients. The instructions had stated to mix wet and dry ingredients separately first. However, when M.C. moved to add the sugar to the dry ingredients Jaehee had stopped her, insisting that, in baking, sugar is considered a wet ingredient. M.C. found the suggestion silly and all attempts at baking were stalled as they both tried to convince the other of their point of view. Looking it up, Jaehee was proven right, but M.C. insisted on reading it herself. Jaehee chuckled at her incredulity as she snatched the phone to read the page. The baking was allowed to continue, albeit with M.C. unable to let go the revelation that sugar is considered a wet ingredient.

In her distraction, M.C. mixed the dry ingredients just a tad too fast and flour spilled, puffing into the air and giving them both a light coating. Laughing together they took a selfie before finishing up the mixing and getting the whole thing into the oven. The two agreed that watching trashy television was the perfect way to wait for the timer to ding.

As they were busy finding the trashiest of trash, both their phones alerted them to a new chatroom. The only thing better than watching trashy TV is ignoring trashy TV to be on your phone, so naturally the pair joined immediately.  
ZEN: Hello M.C.  
ZEN: And Jaehee!  
M.C.: Hi!  
Jaehee Kang: Good morning!  
ZEN: Did you both read last night's chatroom?  
M.C. Not after I left  
Jaehee Kang: Me neither.  
ZEN: Jumin and Seven totally ganged up on me about cats!  
ZEN: :sademoji:  
ZEN: They told me to get a kitten and learn to love it  
M.C.: How mean!  
Jaehee Kang: They must not know the meaning of 'allergy'  
ZEN: Right?!  
ZEN: It's not my fault my face swells up  
ZEN: I suppose God felt he had to give the Earth some protection from my beauty  
Jaehee Kang: It is a terrible that your light can be dimmed in such a way.  
M.C.: It's a shame, cats are cute  
ZEN: Not you too M.C.!  
M.C.: Hey, I'm not blaming you!  
ZEN: Alright...  
ZEN: Anyway, did you both eat?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes thank you.  
M.C.: Not yet. But Jaehee and I just put brownies in the oven  
ZEN: Oh?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes, M.C. asked that I stay after I dropped off her groceries  
Jaehee Kang: I hope you now know to be more careful when mixing.  
M.C.: It was an accident!  
ZEN: Sounds like you two are having fun  
M.C.: Yep!

Jaehee sent the selfie they had taken before.

ZEN: It's a cute photo but...  
ZEN: M.C. what happened to your face?  
M.C.: It's fine, don't worry about it  
ZEN: Did someone hit you?!  
ZEN: Is that what Yoosung was asking about yesterday?  
M.C.: I'm really okay  
ZEN: Jaehee, do you know what happened?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes.  
ZEN: So tell me!

Jaehee looked at M.C.  
“Do you want him to know?”  
“I don't know Jaehee... I don't want to start a fight between him and Jumin”  
“We'll lie then”

Jaehee Kang: She fell  
M.C.: Yeah  
ZEN: You two think I don't know what a punch bruise looks like?  
ZEN: Why don't you want to tell me?

“Well that didn't work.” M.C. chewed on her lip as Jaehee berated herself  
“It was foolish of me the send the photo. I'm sorry.”  
“It's not your fault.” she reassured with a smile

M.C.: Can we talk about this later, Zen?  
ZEN: Why won't you answer me now?  
M.C.: I'll call you later, alright?

“Maybe I'll be able to talk him down if it's over the phone.”  
“I hope so”

ZEN: No M.C.! You can't just not tell me about an injury like that!  
ZEN: Who hurt you?  
M.C.: Zen, please?  
M.C.: I'm having a good time right now so I don't want to talk about it  
Zen: ...fine.  
M.C.: How's rehearsal going?  
ZEN: It's okay  
ZEN: But I don't think my co-star has been practising her lines  
ZEN: It's a great script but it's not romantic if she keeps messing up the words  
Jaehee Kang: I'm sure you make it brilliant even so, Zen  
ZEN: Thank you Jaehee

The timer dinged from the kitchen.

M.C.: We've got to go, brownies are done!  
ZEN: I'm sure they're sweet if you both made them!  
ZEN: Have fun!  
M.C.: Thank you! Bye!  
Jaehee Kang: Have a nice day.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

Zen was right, the brownies were sweet, and with the icecream they were delicious.  
“Ah, I wish I had a DVD from one of Zen's musicals right now.” Jaehee lamented, licking a stray drop of icecream from her lip  
“Well, you could bring one next time, and we'll do this again” M.C. offered “We could make a cake or something.”  
“That sounds nice.”  
“Maybe I'll learn what other, definitely dry, ingredients are considered wet for no apparent reason” M.C. mused, causing the other to laugh.  
“Maybe I'll bring a change of clothes, if we're baking again”  
“Hey! You were wearing an apron!”

Once they had eaten, M.C. pulled out a board game she had never heard of. It took some time to decipher the rules, even with Jaehee's attention to detail. Eventually, they were set up and ready to play. Time passed quickly as they tried to use the quirks of the game to out-play each other. 

Too soon, Jaehee had to leave.  
“Already? We haven't even finished playing”  
“Take a photo of the board and we'll pick up next time. I think we're using the special spaces wrong, though.”  
“Yeah I think so too” M.C. smiled and hugged her tight “I really appreciate you staying”  
“I enjoyed spending time with you, so thank you for asking me to stay” 

M.C. drew out the hug for a little longer before letting her go. Before she head to the door, Jaehee picked up the packet of painkillers,  
“I can't leave all of these with you, so let me know if you run out and I'll drop off some more.” she pulled one of the two blister packets out and put it in her bag.  
“Alright, thank you."  
“No problem at all.” she walked to the door, pausing as she reached it “Will you consider what I said earlier, about accepting us?”  
“Yeah, I will” Jaehee nodded happily and left.

M.C. wondered briefly why she hadn't been allowed to keep all of the painkillers but shrugged it off. She needed to figure out what to tell Zen.


	8. No avoiding it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Murder, mentions of rape and violence

M.C. lay on her back on the sofa, watching the dust motes spiral. She had been trying to figure out what to tell Zen, with no success. All she had currently was to simply ask him not to bring it up, which was no plan at all. Zen, on the other hand, clearly had no patience for her to lay her plans. She didn't even have to look at the ringing phone to know he was calling.  
“Hey Zen.”  
“M.C. how are you?”  
“I'm good, had fun with Jaehee”  
“That's great. That's great... now tell me who hit you.” he jumped right into it, much to M.C.'s dismay  
“Or we could just not talk about that” she offered hopefully  
“M.C. if I have to come over there-” he began to threaten, and M.C. did not want to hear the end  
“Okay okay! Just... don't tell anyone else”  
“What? Why not?”  
“Because I don't want any blowback if you confront the person”  
“But M.C...”  
“Please? For my sake?”  
“Alright. Fine.”  
“It was Jumin”  
“I knew it! That bastard. I'll kill him! I thought we were done with all that. I-” His rage was instant and she had to pull her phone away from her ear for the shouting  
“Zen! You said you wouldn't” M.C. interrupted him again  
“He must have hit you really hard. Was there a reason?” he wasn't yelling any more, but the anger was still apparent  
“...I refused him”  
Zen sighed, finally calming “I told you before. Men are wolves”  
“I know, I know...”  
“So you give them what they want before you get bit”

M.C. was stunned for a moment. That was not the same sentiment for that phrase she remembered. She had to shake herself, these weren't the people she remembered. It was all too obvious at this point, but after the pleasant morning with Jaehee she needed the reminder. Suddenly, she wanted Zen to be mad again, to defend her. Jumin was wrong! He did a terrible thing! Why hadn't the reason made Zen angrier? The question forced a realisation that she had been avoiding. 

It was because he had done the same. 

Didn't Jaehee tell her as much when she asked 'haven't you learnt by now?' and just now Zen said 'I thought we were done with all that.' Had that been the way it used to be? With them beating her into submission? Had they all done it – Seven and Yoosung too? No wonder her brain had blocked these memories and made a nice little world of its own. What was more, it looked like she had already resigned to just let them. Jumin did seem surprised by her reaction the previous evening... 

“M.C. are you still there?”  
“Sorry. I don't want to talk about this any more”  
“One last question.”  
“What?”  
“Are okay, physically?”  
“Yeah I guess. Jaehee looked it over and gave me some painkillers.”  
“And... elsewhere? Other than your face?”  
“My face is the worst, so I haven't paid much attention to the rest. I'm... sore”  
“That man... He was being selfish, wasn't he?”  
“You said one more question. That's three now.”  
“Sorry.”  
“How about we talk about your rehearsal? Is it going any better than this morning?”

The two chatted for a while. M.C. tried not to let the coldness she was feeling towards him, towards them all, seep into her voice. Even so, he picked up on her attitude. Apologising for spoiling her mood, he ended the call early. 

M.C. went back to watching the dust. At least that was something she could have some control over. She spent some time blowing into the air, just to watch all the little specks spin. No, there was something else she could control – how she chose to deal with this. She hadn't made the options herself, of course, but she could pick one. As she saw it, there were three;  
1) Keep going as she was, and get smacked around whenever someone in the RFA was horny.  
2) Passively go along with what they wanted, still being used but at least not being hurt for it.  
3) Actively accept the advances, even making some of her own, in the hope that they treat her better in future.  
She could throw away one. It just wasn't worth it for something that was going to happen anyway. Dignity be damned. 

That left a decision between two and three. If she choose three there was no going back. She'd have to accept all of it, the torture and murder and lord knows what else. If she chose two she'd be a prisoner forever. Two seemed to be where they expected her to be currently, and two could progress to three. Therefore, two was the safest option for now.

God. Was this really how it had to be? Fuck those options. How about a number four? Escape. Was this really the first time it had even occurred to her? It seemed impossible, but she hadn't even really tried, that she could remember. She'd have to do it alone, no-one outside of the RFA knew she was here. Wait – what about Unknown? If he was bad in her memory then maybe he was actually good.

That didn't make sense. He had been the one to lure her here after all. Although, the RFA didn't have any idea who he was and he had said he was sorry last night. If that message was really for her. 

It didn't matter, she had no way to communicate with him, let alone organise an escape. She abandoned the train of thought as a new chatroom notification sounded.

707: Zen!  
707: Oh Zenny Zen!  
707: Just the person I wanted to talk to!  
M.C.: Hello  
707: M.C. hi to you too!  
ZEN: hey  
ZEN: What do you need, Seven?  
707: What did you see last night?  
ZEN: Oh right, that.  
707: You said sumo but  
707: Did you mean sudo?  
ZEN: I don't know. Is sudo a thing?  
707: Yeah, it's a software command  
ZEN: I guess it could have been  
ZEN: It did kinda look like code from movies  
707: Oh dear!  
ZEN: What do you think it was?  
707: I think Yoosung was right  
707: We got hacked  
ZEN: Was it the same one who put M.C. in the messenger?  
707: :questionemoji:  
707: No way to tell at the moment  
707: Looks like I'm gonna have to track this down  
707: This is dangerous!  
ZEN: It really is  
707: Who is gonna maintain the Earth's malware shield now?!  
M.C.: The what?  
707: This is top secret  
707: but all of the Earths satellites  
707: send out malware specially designed by me!  
707: It kills space nanobots who are trying to invade Earth!  
ZEN: What are you talking about?  
707: They constantly adapt!  
707: So I must stay vigilant and update the malware to keep up!  
ZEN: This isn't a sci-fi novel  
M.C.: That's funny, Seven  
707: :cryingemoji:  
707: You don't believe me  
ZEN: Of course not.  
707: It is a thankless job...  
707: But M.C. you invited Jaehee to stay!  
707: You've never done that before  
M.C.: I wanted some company  
ZEN: I can keep you company babe~  
707: Gimme a call and I'll be right over!  
M.C.: I wanted HER company  
M.C.: Besides aren't you both busy?  
707: aw no fair...  
707: I saw you both yell at me btw  
707: so mean!  
ZEN: I didn't yell at you?  
M.C.: No, it was me and Jaehee  
707: They called me a pervert!  
M.C.: I mean... that fact you watched us talk kinda proves it  
ZEN: She's got you there lol  
707: :shockemoji:  
707: Zen not you too!  
M.C.: And! You're the one who set that gate password for Yoosung  
ZEN: Yeah, poor Yoosung having to say such things  
707: He likes it  
ZEN: Then he's a pervert too  
707: You're one to talk, Zen!  
707: I've seen your search history!  
ZEN: You WHAT!?  
707: uh... gotta go!  
707: The nanobots are adapting again!  
ZEN: Seven! You better not have!  
707 has left the chatroom.  
ZEN: Dammit...  
M.C.: So he has a habit of invading peoples privacy  
ZEN: I mean, that's kinda what he does, right?  
M.C.: yeah I suppose  
ZEN: :dejectedemoji:  
ZEN: I'm going to go  
M.C.: Cheer up!  
ZEN: Thanks, talk to you later.  
ZEN: has left the chatroom.

As M.C. closed the chat, her phone rang again. Jumin. Her heart started trying to climb up her throat. If she ignored it, it would be obvious she was ignoring him, since she had just been in a chatroom. Fearing pissing him off again, she swallowed and answered.  
“Good afternoon.” he greeted her  
“Hi.”  
“So. What happened last night?” Jumin never had been one to mince his words  
“Gee, I don't know.” it was too much to outright call him on it, but now she found herself angry enough for the dry sarcasm to spill out rather than some kind of avoidance  
“Don't be like that. I said we were going to talk about it. I'll be honest M.C. you really confused me.”  
“Confused you? Why?”  
“Because over dinner you were... different than normal, nicer. I thought you had finally...” he trailed off “But then you ruined it.”  
“I'm the one who ruined it?! Jumin I was enjoying your company until you pulled that!” How dare he! Did he seriously have no concept of what he had done?  
“You were?”  
“Obviously!”  
“I see. You've given me a lot to think about, M.C.. I'll speak to you again later”  
“Wha-? Hey! We are not done talking about this!” He had already hung up. 

She had barely said anything, how was that 'a lot to think about'? This Jumin was even more baffling than the nice one. She cast the thought away, unwilling to sully the rest of her day thinking about him. 

Hours later, as M.C. was readying herself for bed, Assistant Kang's work had just begun. Carrying a large briefcase with her and under the cover of darkness, she snuck to an abandoned house, specially selected for it's location. It was part of a one way street, rarely used save for one person of importance. This house itself was not part of his typical route but if someone, someone like her, blocked off his turning, then he would have no choice but to go through this section of road.

The house had been broken into the day before by an associate of hers posing as a vagrant. It was a small task to slip into the back door and head upstairs. Opening the case, she assembled her rifle with quick, practised movements. Taking a moment to admire the elegance of the weapon in her gloved hands, she stood and moved into position.

She didn't need to wait for long, the targets car turned the corner twelve seconds sooner than expected. He must have sped in nervousness from being forced into the bad part of the neighbourhood. No matter. Weeks of research and planning had been put into offering her this single trigger-pull. It wouldn't be derailed so easily. The Assistant adjusted her aim accordingly, inhaled, fired, exhaled. 

Leather seats stained red as the car careened off course and crashed into the building across the road. Collapsing her weapon she reseated it into the cushions of the case with care. She then retrieved a hidden container of gasoline and, with that and her brief case in hand, left the building. 

After opening the passenger door of the crumpled car, she leaned in and pressed down on the cigarette lighter. Once she released it, the make and model of the car would give her twenty seconds to complete her task before it popped up. The canister was already open, plenty of time. Releasing the button she doused the corpse and the passenger seat in the petrol, leaving the container on the seat. She then shut the door and turned away.

By the time the car went up in flames, she had disappeared into the night.


	9. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: sex and mentions of drugs

Seven tossed his Dr Pepper can to the side in disgust. He had been up all night looking for this hacker. Whoever it was, they had left very few traces. There was nothing more he could do to track them based on this attack alone. He sighed, only thing to do now was improve the existing app security. Which would take all damn day. Then he'd have to go to the apartment and improve that security system too. He could do it remotely, but that left it vulnerable to an injection attack.

The others would kill him if that system failed and M.C. escaped. What did this hacker want exactly? Their information? Perhaps revenge against an RFA member? It didn't matter really, but if he could figure it out he'd know what systems were most likely to be attacked. It would save him some work, but right now he just had to reinforce it all.

It had been a little while since he visited M.C. anyway. He could finish his work and then de-stress with her and ask why she'd been acting so strangely. No time for sleep, he got to work.

M.C. stared at her phone screen, chewing her lip once more. At this rate she'd have no lips left. It was time to ask Cho to meet up. The email was already typed, all she needed to do was press send. A button press that would send this innocent girl to hell. There was no guarantee that she'd accept, but M.C.'s luck hadn't been good enough recently for her to hope for that. 

She could end it now. Not send the email and let Cho live her life. However, M.C. had already felt the consequences of not giving Jumin what he wanted. She could warn her, but that would definitely provoke a punishment. The only hope for the girl was if M.C. had failed to convince her. With a prayer that she would refuse, M.C. sent the email. Next, wanting something to think about so she didn't dwell on it, she opened a chatroom.

Yoosung has joined the chatroom.  
M.C.: Hey Yoosung  
Yoosung: Hi!  
M.C.: Did you have breakfast?  
Yoosung: Yep! How about you?  
M.C.: Not yet  
Yoosung: You've been skipping a lot of meals recently  
Yoosung: You should look after yourself!  
M.C.: Yeah, I know, thanks  
M.C.: What are you up to?  
Yoosung: Just making a delivery  
Yoosung: waiting for the guy to show up  
M.C.: Oh cool, what are you delivering?  
Yoosung: Wouldn't you like to know?  
Yoosung: :starryeyesemoji:  
M.C.: Aw, you're not gonna tell me?  
Yoosung: I'm kidding, I'm not Seven lol  
Yoosung: Just some prescription painkillers

Right. Black market. Though there were worse things he could be selling, she supposed.

M.C.: Stay safe!  
Yoosung: I'll be okay, don't worry!  
Yoosung: I hope this guy isn't too late  
Yoosung: I have a LOLOL raid to prepare for  
M.C.: Lol have your guild forgiven you?  
Yoosung: Mostly. I figure if I do well today  
Yoosung: They'll have to stop being mad at me!  
Yoosung: :cheeringemoji:  
M.C.: Good luck!  
Yoosung: Thanks!  
Yoosung: How about you, M.C.?  
M.C.: What about me?  
Yoosung: What are you going to do today?  
M.C.: I'm not sure  
M.C.: Maybe try to figure out if Jaehee and I were playing this board game right

A notification popped up and M.C.s heart could've stopped. Cho had replied. She dismissed it.

Yoosung: Lol you don't know?  
M.C.: No! It was super complicated, okay?  
Yoosung: Alright, I'll believe you  
Yoosung: Hey, the guy's here  
Yoosung: I gotta go

No Yoosung! Please stay! If he left there'd be nothing stopping her from checking that email.

M.C.: Alright, talk to you later  
Yoosung: Bye!

Yoosung has left the chatroom.

There was no reason she had to check the email this instant. She could do some other things around the house. She could figure out those instructions like she had told Yoosung. Yes, she'd do that. It only took a few failed attempts at reading the first sentence to realise that she couldn't focus. Shaking herself out, she tried one more time. It was useless. 

All she could think about was whether or not she had ruined someone's life. But the content of the email wouldn't change if she ignored it. Slowly, she opened the message.

From: Kim Cho  
To: User  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Helloooo!  
' Hey Chan-mi

That's a great idea! I can meet up next Wednesday at 10 in the morning.

See you then!  
Cho~ ' 

From: User  
To: Info  
Subject: Meeting set  
' Next Wednesday at 10am'

It looked like the info mail had sent automatically, stealing away M.C.'s last hope to prevent this. There was no way to save her now, not without damning herself. She felt nauseous. What had she done? No, no it wasn't her fault. She didn't have any choice. Anyone else would've done the same in her position, right?

Just forget about it. There was nothing more she could do, she shouldn't torture herself over it. Flipping on the TV she closed her phone and pushed it away. The news was on. Something about a politician dying in a car crash. It hadn't happened too far from the apartment, she recognised the road as they showed the burnt out husk of a car. 

She was still watching the TV hours later, the early evening light reminding her that she had skipped lunch. As she was about to head to the kitchen and make herself dinner, the door opened. Seven stepped in with a backpack over one shoulder and carrying a laptop. M.C. couldn't help but notice the bags under his eyes and how pale he was.  
“Hey.” he greeted, setting his things down on the coffee table  
“Hi...” she eyed him from a distance, nervous to have another male RFA member in the apartment “What are you doing here?”  
“I've gotta update the security thanks to this hacker” he took his shoes off and finished setting himself up “Try not to be a nuisance”  
“Right...” looks like the escape hope would stay just a hope “Would you like a drink?” part of her was loathe to offer him any hospitality, but most of her saw the friend she knew before  
“I brought my own,” he waved a can of Dr Pepper in her direction “Let me concentrate.”  
She nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Why was she still struggling to connect these people to the horrors that they were? She had watched Zen torture a man and heard of all the others criminal ways. She had personally had a run-in with Jumin. This shouldn't be as difficult as it was. She was definitely, positively, angry with Jumin, but that was it. Was it because she had never actually seen them commit a crime, aside from him? She had watched Zen's livestream but it could have been anyone doing those things with how he masked his identity. 

There was no denying it, she was worried about Seven. Sometimes you just feel how you feel, even if it's illogical, so she made him dinner too. 

When she set the plate beside his laptop he glanced up at her,  
“What's this?”  
“Dinner.”  
“Why?”  
“You look like you need it. Have you even slept?”  
“Why do you care?” he looked at her properly now and she noted that he wasn't wearing his necklace. M.C. couldn't escape the feeling she was being analysed.  
“Because I do? You don't have to eat it. I'll leave you alone” she sat herself at the table with her own plate and began to eat. He was acting weird but, she wasn't really in the position to predict how he should react , if she really thought about it. 

Once she had finished eating, she looked over to him. His plate was empty. Good. She cleared it away, as well as her own and dished up a slice of brownie with a scoop of icecream from each of them. She served it to him wordlessly, like before. He paused and studied it for a moment.  
“Alright, what the hell is going on with you?” he turned to her. The outburst was a surprise.  
“What? It's just a brownie”  
“...Nevermind” he turned away again, leaving her to gape at him. M.C. collected herself and moved to eat her own dessert at the table. 

An hour or two passed before either of them spoke again. M.C. was sat on the bed, fiddling with her phone when he leaned back and stretched,  
“That about does it”  
“You're done?”  
“Yep”  
“You should get some sleep then”  
“I actually had different plans for tonight”  
“Oh?”

In response he approached her. He left her no time to react before kissing her deeply. Some small noise escaped her throat and she gripped his hoodie. Why was she reacting like this? Was she really so desperate to be treated gently? Sure, she had hugged Jaehee twice the day before, but only briefly, and it was nothing like this. 

Seven seemed more surprised than her at the reaction, falling forwards on top of her. He rolled off of her to the side but held her there, one arm under her head. Grabbing her chin with his free hand, he gently pulled her to look at him. M.C. once again got the feeling of being analysed as he stared into her eyes.  
“Alright. You're going to tell me what's been going on with you recently” he ordered.  
“I don't know what you mean.” she told him  
“No? You tried to open the front door. You said something weird happened on the phone and gave a lame excuse. You looked up changed memories and something about dimensions. You had, what sounded like, a panic attack in the bathroom when Zen livestreamed. You actually talked to Jumin over dinner. You invited Jaehee to stay. You've been... nice to me all evening and you have never kissed me back before now” he listed off everything.  
“How do you know what I've been searching for?” she asked  
“And you seem to have forgotten that I screen everything from your phone” he added. Evidently, he knew everything she had done, but not the reason why.  
“I-I don't know who any of you are, or where I am.” she lied “It started when I woke up that night the camera went out”  
“Don't lie to me!” she flinched as he shouted. He took a breath and continued normally “If you knew nothing you wouldn't be able to pretend as well as you have, and that's not what you looked up”  
“...It did start the night the camera went out.” she admitted. 

It was impossible to hide it now, so she explained “I remember things differently from how they apparently actually happened”  
“Different how?”  
“Well... The RFA is an actual charity organisation. I'm not locked in, the camera is in the hall, not the room. None of you have ever... uhm... had sex with me. And none of you are... are...”  
“Are what? He prompted her to continue  
“Criminals. Including me. I've never catfished or scammed anyone!”  
“Oh,” he studied her further, running his thumb over her bottom lip “well look at you. A flower in our thorns; innocent and undamaged” Seven wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close and tucking his head into the nape of her neck. Then he bit down. Hard.  
“OW!” she cried out, whimpering as he didn't let go “Seven...?!”  
He finally pulled away “Best to not tell the others about all that stuff, who knows how they'd react?”  
“Have I really been acting that different to how I was before?”  
“Yeah completely. Some might say 'unbridled loathing'. And by 'some' I mean Jaehee. Jaehee said that about you”  
“No-one said anything in the chatrooms.”  
“No you've always been nice in the messenger. Probably a habit from the catfishing”  
“If I was so mean in person, why do any of you like me?”  
“Uh duh, because you were nice in the chatrooms” the usual cheery inflection was finally in his voice as he smirked at her. It prompted her to ask,  
“Is me being mean in person why you've been so cold all evening?”  
“Another duh, but I figure, if you're nice now, I can be too”  
“One more question”  
“Shoot”  
“Where's your necklace?”  
“I've never worn a necklace, do you remember me wearing one?”  
“Yeah, a cross”  
“Why would I wear a cross?”  
“Because you're Catholic?”

There was a pause. Suddenly, he was laughing at her, great guffaws that shook the bed,  
“Seriously? And they say I make up crazy stories” M.C. looked away, embarrassed,  
“Okay. But now I have another question”  
“Fine” he wiped away a tear, still grinning  
“What's your name?”  
“Huh?”  
“I remember it being Luciel, but that was a baptismal name. Obviously that can't be right if you're not religious”  
“Just Seven.”  
“Oh... alright then.”  
“Are you done?” she nodded in response “Good.”

He kissed her again and without thinking she pushed her body up to his. The part of her screaming that this was wrong was silenced by the need to find comfort in another. Hands began exploring before the kiss was broken. She slipped under his shirt and felt his lower back up to his, surprisingly muscular, shoulders. He was keeping it above clothes for now, running his hand over her hips and stomach.

They pulled apart to breathe. M.C. tugged on the hem of his shirt,  
“Hmm? Is that what you want? Who's the pervert now?” he teased, sitting up to shrug off his hoodie.  
“Still you.” she told him assuredly as she watched him undress. He set his glasses to the side and pulled his shirt off.  
“Well its not fair if it's just me nude” He noted, looking at her pointedly. Rolling her eyes, she pulled off her shirt, unclasping her bra soon after and tossing it away. Seven looked her over, licking his lips before unbuckling his belt. M.C. kicked her socks away before doing the same. They both dropped their jeans at the same time.

He moved back to her, kissing her neck and down to her breasts. She gasped as he nipped the soft skin gently. Peppering a few more kisses, he was about to move to her nipple when;  
“Wait a minute!” she stopped him. He looked up at her,  
“What's wrong?”  
“Take off your fucking socks”  
“If they're 'fucking socks' I think they fit the occasion.” He laughed to himself, but her expression was very clearly not amused. “Alright, they're gone” he pulled them off and continued where he left off. 

Her eyes fluttered closed and she let off the same small sound as before and tangled her hand in his hair, holding him close. Not finished, he bought his knee up between her legs and pressed up gently against her pussy. The sound that left her from that was certainly a moan. He kissed her again and she sucked on his bottom lip, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth. Between that and the rolling pressure he had kept up with his knee, she quickly reached a point where she couldn't stand waiting.

She broke the kiss,  
“Stop teasing me” she gasped out another moan as he bit her nipple gently.  
“What's the magic word?”  
“Please” she didn't hesitate to respond. Smirking, he pulled away and gestured to his boxers  
“You have my full permission.” she grabbed his waistband and pulled them down. Moving out of them, he pulled down her panties and moved back in to kiss her. She pressed up against him again, but this time he was the one to pull away,  
“Hold on there,” she huffed as he leaned to the side, pulling a condom from the drawer in the bedside table. He put it on slowly, too slowly,  
“Seven!” she whined  
“Someone's impatient” he chuckled and moved back to her. He kissed her neck again, trailing a hand down her side to lift her leg over his waist.

He groaned into her neck as he entered her. Her hand found his hair once more, the other gripping his back and they moved together. He alternated between kissing her neck, face and breasts as they both reached the crescendo. M.C. cried out, wrapping her legs around him and squeezing him tight. His followed and he pulled her in close, face buried in her neck. After a second he flopped beside her. The two lay there, panting. 

Pulling her into a hug, he hummed happily. M.C. snuggled into his chest, glad to feel his warmth against her.  
“I gotta get clean before we fall asleep” he sighed after a moment and stood up. She let him go, pulling the covers over herself before he returned. She held the side up, allowing him to slide in beside her. She got comfortable against him once more. With a final kiss, he finally let his exhaustion take him.

M.C. was left to her thoughts and as her mind cleared, one single question made itself known above all others. What the hell was that?! Hadn't she settled on options two and four? That had been three all the way. 

And it was _good._


	10. Vigilante

The morning came late to the apartment. Sunlight dappled the room before M.C. stirred, still wrapped in Sevens arms. She shifted slightly, quickly realising that any hope of getting up without waking him wasn't going to come to fruition.  
“Psst. Hey.” she tapped his cheek gently, earning nothing but a grunt, “Seven”  
“No”  
“Seven!”  
“The server you are trying to reach cannot be found”  
“Well can the server at least let me go?”  
“No”  
M.C. huffed and began to wriggle out of his arms  
“Alright Alright, I'm up” he let go of her and the pair got ready for the day. 

Shortly after breakfast, Seven stood,  
“Sorry but I gotta go, the life of a God is a busy one”  
“Busy with what?”  
“Secret stuff”  
“Okay, good luck and stay safe”  
“Thanks!” He kissed her head and walked out. 

A few minutes had passed when she heard the door open again.  
“M.C.? Quick, come here!”  
“Seven? Did you forge- who are you?”she turned mid-sentence, he had sounded like Seven but the man in the door-frame wasn't him. Unless, in a few short minutes, Seven had dyed his hair white and changed eye-colour. Frankly, he might have, he looked a lot like him.  
“We don't have much time, I'm gonna get you out of here” he was looking back and forth down the street furtively. She stared at him. This was a trick, right? “Come on. If I could come in there and drag you out I would, but if I step foot in here we'll both be blown sky high.”

The urgency in his voice moved her to act, she grabbed her shoes unthinkingly, but soon realised that was a waste of time. Instead she carried them as she ran out of the door, leaving her phone. Following close behind the man, she ignored the stabbing of stones in her feet as they hurried out of the apartment building and to the car park. 

They climbed into a nondescript black car and drove away, slower than she'd expect.  
“Aren't we in a hurry?”  
“We'd draw more attention by speeding.”  
She nodded, brushing the stones from her socks and pulling her shoes on.  
“Who are you? How did you know I was trapped there?”  
“I'm Saeran. We have spoken before”  
“We have?”  
“Yeah... don't freak out. You know me as unknown”  
“You!? You sent me there in the first place! I knew this was a trick! They're going to kill me” she pressed herself against the door, trying to stay as far away from him as she could in the confined space.  
“No! No one is going to hurt you! Not any more! Please let me explain.”

As promised, Saeran explained himself. He told her how luring her to the RFA was supposed to be a one day thing, to create a distraction so he could get to their files. However it hadn't worked and she had ended up trapped by them instead. It seemed every other sentence he apologised profusely for what had happened to her while she was there. He went on to explain that he had been trying fruitlessly for months to free her.  
“Every attempt was a total failure... until a few days ago. That one did what it was supposed to, but something else that it wasn't”  
“The night the camera went out?”  
“Yes. Everything seemed to change that night, didn't it?”  
“Uh.. yeah.”  
“I tried to rescue M.C. but instead I just swapped her with you.”  
“What? I'm M.C.”  
“Yes, but not the one who belongs here”  
He continued to explain that he had found an algorithm that would allow someone to pass between dimensions. His intention was to send their M.C. to her world and then pull her back in a different location. However he had done it wrong and instead of sending this worlds M.C. to her world, he had swapped them. He had been too afraid to try again,  
“But when I saw what Jumin Han did to you, I had to do something fast. The other M.C. didn't deserve what they were doing to her, but she was a crook like them. You're just an innocent”

They fell into silence as M.C. digested everything. She listened to the sounds of the engine as they drove. It was comforting to know she wasn't crazy. Though she wasn't convinced she was completely safe, not until she was actually home. What did Saeran gain from stealing the RFA's files? And what had the other her been doing these past few days?  
“Are you Seven from another universe?” she asked suddenly  
“No, I'm his twin.”  
“Oh. He never mentioned you”  
“Not even in your universe?” he looked up at her, for a moment but kept his attention on the road  
“No... Are you unknown in my world?”  
“I think so, the algorithm is a little hard to understand though.”  
“Maybe... since everyone's swapped. You're a criminal in mine.” she theorised  
“It's possible.”  
The scenery had turned from a city-scape to forest. The leaves blurred together into a green streak as they climbed into mountains. 

Hours had passed by the time they reached their destination. Saeran parked and led her inside. The building was, surprisingly, bustling with people. Filing cabinets lined the walls and people sat together talking amongst themselves. It was so clean as to be sterile with paper-white walls adding to the feeling. Every other room looked to be a shared office with high-end computers. 

Finally, they reached what must have been Saeran's office. It had more monitors than any other room, each flickering with text. For a few moments, the room was illuminated in nothing but the green of that text. Whatever the words running across the screens could be for, they meant nothing to M.C.. He turned the light on and gestured to a chair against the wall, which she took gladly.  
“What is this place?”  
“This is the Mint Eye base of operations. We're a vigilante group. Our goal is to gather information about crime syndicates. Once we have enough evidence, we put it in the right hands so they get taken down.”  
“Isn't that dangerous?”  
“Yeah. That's why we're so far out here. We've lost a lot of good people to this cause”  
“Do you often use bait like... the other me?”  
“No... The RFA is a special case. Our leader will be here soon. She'll explain everything.”

M.C. nodded and twiddled her thumbs as Saeran turned to his screens. Occasionally he'd glance over to her. It seemed he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to. Again, it was M.C. who broke the silence,  
“What happened between you and Seven?”  
He sighed, pushing himself away from the desk “For a start, his name is Saeyoung” he went on to tell the story.

When they were children, the twins had been as close as any twins could be. Perhaps even closer. They had to be to survive life on the streets. Saeyoung had always been the stronger of the two, protecting Saeran from every danger that such a life could throw at them. Everything from territorial stray cats to predatory old men offering a 'place to stay', Saeyoung kept them all away.  
“I wanted nothing more than to be like him and protect people”

But then it had all changed when they were teenagers. Somehow the pair had found themselves hiding out in the backstreets of the most wealthy neighbourhood in the country. Saeyoung met V and Jumin somewhere around that time. Suddenly, he was mugging kids in the street, robbing stores and who knows what else? 

Saeran started seeing him less and less as he got more wrapped into the schemes of the rich kids. Then, one day, he disappeared entirely and Saeran was left to fend for himself.  
“I haven't seen him since” he finished  
“Oh Saeran, I'm so sorry...” he shrugged and turned back to his computer.

A few more minutes passed before there was a knock on the door.  
“Saeran? Can I come in?”  
“Leader! Of course!”

The door opened and Rika entered the room.


	11. Vs hobby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of bodily mutilation and drugging

“Thank goodness you're both safe!” Rika sighed in relief “Oh! What have they done to you?” she rushed over to M.C. and touched her swollen cheek gently.  
“I'm okay” she flinched away from the sensation “But Rika, I thought you were dead”  
“Rule one. V is a liar” she replied with a smile “Saeran, you did so well. Come see me if you need anything”  
He nodded and Rika lead M.C. from the room. 

They head upstairs, Rika keeping a comforting hand on M.C.s elbow. In just a few short minutes she could tell why Rika was so precious to them. There was just something so intangible, yet so precious about her presence, it was calming. They eventually sat on the sofa of a well furnished bedroom  
“This will be where you stay. I'm right next door and you can speak to me anytime” Rika reassured her  
“I just want to go home.” M.C. admitted, hands clasped in the other woman's  
“We'll send you back just as soon as we can, I promise.” her hair blonde locks fell from her shoulder as she leaned in with reassurance “But Saeran wants to be sure he has it right before he tries messing with that algorithm again”  
M.C. nodded “I get it... I am safe here, right?” she didn't even want to consider the consequences of running away like this  
“I've been staying here too. My room is right next door” Rika was reassuring her again “If you ever need anything at all come and see me. It doesn't matter when. It's been almost two years and they haven't found me yet.”  
“But they think you're dead! I thought you were dead!” M.C. threw her hands up in her incredulity “They know I'm alive and they'll be furious!” she couldn't help it, she was trembling  
“Shh, its, okay, it's okay” M.C. was pulled into a tight hug “We will get you home. I swear it. But right now, this is the safest place for you”  
“What happened? Why do they all think you're dead?” M.C couldn't help but return the hug.

Rika began to explain while she held M.C. close. She had fallen in love with V's photography before anything else. Drawn in by the seeming honesty and brightness poured into each image, she approached him one day at an exhibition and was immediately bewitched. It wasn't long before she understood the dark underbelly of the world he and Jumin inhabited.  
“Foolish as I was, I thought I could save them.” she admitted.

Though Rika knew most of it, she hadn't discovered the full picture. By that time, the RFA was well established and she was finally realising the extent of the criminality. She had actually managed to donate some money to charitable causes through the sham organisation before everything crumbled.

The fall, for her at least, came one summer. V had been travelling abroad and left with strict instructions to stay out of the basement. That had lasted about a week. It was too puzzling to watch Jumin enter the room daily with no idea what was down there, and what could possibly need that much maintenance. One night, Rika had dared follow her curiosity down to that dark room. 

It was worse than anything her nightmares could dare to serve her. There were three at the time, each chained to the wall. Each one had had their limbs removed, arms just above the elbow and legs above the knee. Every detached limb was replaced with a hook, and a velvet cup to cover the ugly mess that severing a limb had left. These hooks were used to keep them restrained. She had run over to them, unable to process the sight before her. The swirl of their eyes suggested some drug filled their systems. The assumed drug seemed to be the cause of their inability to speak, until one of them tried her hardest to warn her away. The unintelligible gargle stirred her system, stiff with shock, to investigate further. 

Each and every one of those girls no longer had a tongue. 

She knew then, that there could be no redemption found for the man she thought she loved. V returned from his trip early. Somehow, she still didn't know how, he knew she had discovered the secret. For her own sake; she pretended. She pretended as though it didn't bother her, that she believed his words when he told her they were better off like that, and that she wasn't looking desperately for a safe way out. 

With every new day came the growing paranoia that she too would become a doll. Every night in his arms bought a nightmare of what he was doing, what he could do to her. She was forced to abandon the hope that any RFA member could be saved, not even her dear cousin Yoosung. So she saved herself. 

By that time, she had been in contact with Saeran for a few years. Secretly sending him pictures of Saeyoung whenever it was safe to do so, as well as the meagre amount of money she was able to squirrel away. She had promised him that she would bring his brother back to him,  
“It killed me to tell him what I thought. I felt like I was betraying him.”

However, Saeran had not given up or abandoned her. Instead, he doubled down on his efforts, keeping her safe while they both established the organisation now known as Mint Eye.  
“And what of me in your world? How am I doing?”  
M.C. swallowed, the words condensing in her throat as she tried to speak them,  
“You killed yourself. I don't know the full story, none of them want to talk about it.” she finally managed to force them out of her mouth.  
Rika took a moment, then nodded “We all have our own demons, right? I'm sure you're exhausted so I'll leave you be. Like I said, I'm just next door if you need me.” With that she left M.C. alone. 

M.C. explored the room briefly, the drawers and wardrobe were empty but she could probably ask for some clothes in the morning. It had an en-suite bathroom with one of the best gifts ever, a bath. She ran it hot and bubbly, slipping in leisurely. Miraculously, option four had been a success! She was safe! She only wished she had been able to get out of there before pushing Cho into their clutches. 

The RFA were probably in total melt-down at the moment. However, M.C. was sure they'd have no way to trace her, unless her clothes somehow had a satellite connection. After all, she had left everything behind, including her phone. 

She found her thoughts focusing on Seven. How would he feel about her running away the day after he thought she had accepted him? She decided it didn't matter, she would never see that Seven again. Though she wouldn't mind waking in his arms again. Maybe she could start something once she was back where she belonged. 

Pulling herself from the heavenly water, she dried off and considered her options. The main door to the room had no lock, so sleeping in the nude wasn't the most appealing. Her shirt and panties were the best she could do for now. 

With the decision made, she slipped into the queen-sized canopy bed and, free at last, let herself drift to sleep.


	12. 'Safe' house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence and murder, gruesome descriptions

M.C. was awoken late in the night by a series of loud bangs. Attempting to flick on the lamp, she found it wouldn't work – perhaps the bulb had burnt out before she arrived. She was up and looking out of the window before it registered that it wasn't fireworks. Firecrackers perhaps, but who would be setting them off all the way in the mountain? 

She was still puzzling over it when the door flew open. Saeran stood there, visible only for the moonlight but still clearly hastily dressed, with eyes wide and frantic,  
“M.C. You've got to go! Follow the hall to the right and meet Rika there, she knows the emergency exit” a few more bangs could be heard, louder now, and flashes illuminated the hall. Saeran ducked into the room “Shit! Already? Get behind me”

The sight of the gun in his hands forced the puzzle pieces together in M.C.'s mind. Not firecrackers, gunfire. She ran up behind him and the two waited for the moment to run. The firing ceased for a moment and they took the cue, only to be stopped by Seven turning the corner into the room. He held a hostage in front of him, gun pressed to his temple. Saeran stood up straight, pointing his own gun at him.  
“You don't need to hurt anyone, Saeyoung”  
“How do you-” Seven returned the aim in surprise before composing himself “You're right, I don't, if you give me the girl.” He stepped forwards.  
“Stay back or I'll shoot!” Saeran warned, steadying his aim  
“Shoot who? Your friend here?” he continued to approach  
“I mean it!”  
“No you don't. But I do.” Seven fired and Saeran fell backwards, gun clattering to the floor. M.C. caught him the best she could  
“Seven no! He's your brother!” lowering him to the ground she checked him over, blood began to pool around her knees as she knelt beside him. He was still breathing, the wound in his shoulder gushing with every heartbeat.  
“Oh, interesting.” his voice was monotone and another gunshot rang out. Something warm and wet spattered M.C.'s face and torso. 

Seven dropped the corpse, the hostage's blown out head giving a wet thump as it hit the ground. He grabbed her by the arm roughly and yanked her to her feet, the hard barrel of the gun pressed harshly against her head.  
“Now you're going to come with me and you're not going to try anything funny, got it?” she nodded timidly and allowed him to pull her out of the room in nothing but her shirt and underwear.

The gun stayed firm against her as she was led from the building, occasionally her bare feet squelched on something in the darkness. Seven only paused to force her into the passenger seat of his car. Wordlessly he got into the drivers side and sped away. M.C. could still hear gunfire as they descended the mountain.  
“Who else is there?”  
“No-one. It's a distraction. Sit still and don't talk to me.” his knuckles were white on the steering wheel and the fury that spilled from his voice pushed M.C. to try and reason with him,  
“Seven, I-”  
“Shut up! Do as I say or I will hurt you!” he yelled, forcing her into silence. 

M.C. sat there, hands in her lap. She could feel Saeran's blood, now cold, drip slowly down from her knees as it congealed. She hoped he could get help soon enough. There were very few other cars on the road at this late hour, which was lucky since they must be driving triple the speed-limit. Even with the pace they set, the first sight of dawn blinded her before they arrived. She didn't recognise the area they pulled into. It was still within the city but somehow felt as remote as the Mint Eye base with high walls and surrounding trees. Seven rolled down his window at the gate and said something in a foreign language, it slid open and they entered. The garage door opened automatically and they parked. 

M.C. recognised the many cars around her from pictures Seven had sent, this must be his house. He got out and opened her door. Dragging her out he slammed the door and pulled her towards the house. Realising she was leaving bloody footprints in her wake he picked her up before they crossed the threshold. He carried her through the house and dumped her in the bathroom gracelessly.  
“Get clean. And do not leave this room until I give you permission.” with the order given he shut the door and left her alone. 

Looking in the mirror, M.C. took stock of herself. She was as dishevelled as you'd expect someone kidnapped in the middle of the night to look. The bruise on her face was just starting to fade from the edges, while the bite mark on her neck was just hitting its full purple colour. Another bruise, in the shape of Seven's hand, was beginning to form on her arm from where he had grabbed her. 

Something was speckling her face and upper-body. Most of it was blood, that much she could identify but the rest was different. She scratched off a chunk that stuck to her cheek and examined it. It was hard and white on one side, and grey and jelly-like on the other. The sight of the corpse dropping to the ground appeared before her eyes again and she stiffened. She was covered in brain and skull fragments. It was then the weight of the past few hours crushed her. 

She ripped her shirt and underwear off and jumped into the shower, wildly scrubbing her skin to remove the gore. The same feeling from watching Zen's livestream constricted her chest and had her gulping for breath. The rapid pace of her heart threatened to knock her out as she scoured the blood from between her toes. Finally she washed her hair, twice. With the human remains removed, she was able to calm slightly and got out of the shower, wrapping herself in the towel she was about to exit when she remembered Seven's instruction. 

Her panic rose again at the thought of him. She had betrayed him. She had betrayed them all. There would be repercussions for this. She began to sob as every possibility she could imagine took its turn to present itself to her. 

Meanwhile, Seven was hard at work cleaning his car. He cursed under his breath at the blood over the carpet and seat on the passenger side as he scrubbed it. The repetitive motions helped cool his head. He couldn't tell the others M.C. had escaped, they'd be livid. He couldn't send her back to the apartment either, if the security was breached even after being reinforced there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. Besides, M.C. was clearly a flight risk now, just as he thought he could trust her too. Cold fluid splashed against his jeans and he realised he was squeezing the wash cloth hard enough to wring it out. 

She would have to be watched from now on, that was for sure, and he did not have time. With upgrading the security in the app and apartment, and tracking down M.C., he had fallen behind on his current project and he really did not want to piss off the guy who hired him. Still, at least he had put that GPS tracker on her shoe months back, that had saved so much time. With his car cleaned, he stood and made some calls before heading inside.

M.C. quickly opened the door when she heard the knock. Seven towered over her as she stepped out, closing the door behind her,  
“Care to explain yourself?” he didn't sound as angry as he had before, but she was still quivering under his gaze  
“Can you really blame me?”  
“Yes I fucking can!” His voice rose a little and she shrunk down “I thought I could trust you” there was hurt in those words  
“What would you have done in my situation?” she responded with anger herself to push away the guilt “If you had an escape from being at the beck and call of criminals?”  
“You're a criminal too”  
“No I'm not”  
“Just because you don't remember it doesn't make it less true”  
“No I'm not! I'm from a different universe, Saeran explained everything”  
That gave Seven some pause, but he shook it off quickly “That doesn't change anything. You're damn lucky I'm not going to tell the others about this”  
“You're not?”  
“No. Because we both know what they'd do. And I actually don't want you to be hurt even though, apparently, the feeling isn't mutual.”  
“I'm sorry, Seven... But please think about it from my perspective...” the fire left her and she wrapped her arms around him tight. Once again, she surprised herself with how she reacted to him. Had she not watched him murder a man hours ago? After a moment he sighed and hugged her back,  
“I don't completely forgive you yet. But let's get you some clothes for now and then you can tell me what my brother told you. I think I have some of Yoosung's stuff that's a close enough fit.”

Yoosung's clothes were a little too big, but still passable. It was embarrassing to have to go without a bra but she supposed she wasn't being seen in public. Once she was dressed, they sat on the sofa and she explained everything she knew. However, she left out any mention of Rika or what she had told her, she would hate herself if the other woman fell back into the RFA's hands. Seven listened intently,  
“I wish I had cloned their information. Too late now, I guess.” he shrugged “I told the others that I noticed a breach in the security last night and that your phone was being blocked during the day. So I got you from the apartment. That's our story so stick to it. You don't know anything that you just told me, got it?” M.C. nodded, not needing to be told the consequences of the others finding out the truth 

They watched TV for a while, Seven keeping some distance between himself and M.C.. He jumped up when Yoosung walked through the door, suitcase in tow. Yoosung stumbled backwards, grabbing onto him for support as Seven heaved him into a hug, burying his face in Yoosungs hair,  
“Whoa!” he dropped the suitcase and returned the hug “Rough day?” Seven nodded,  
“I have so much to do still”  
“I've got it from here, don't you worry. You can return the favour by changing the password on that gate!”  
“Return the favour? Oh no sir, you still owe me, even after this!” he kissed him gently “But, thank you.”  
Yoosung rolled his eyes “Hey, M.C.! I bought your stuff”  
“Hi, thank you.” Seven pulled away from him,  
“Yoosung's going to watch you, I don't have time to.”  
“Watch me? Why?”  
“You're under constant supervision now that we don't have a safe place to keep you.”  
“Constant supervision?!” M.C. was aghast “But I-” the look Seven shot her silenced the protest.  
“I've gotta get back to work. Have fun.” With that, he rushed to his office, leaving M.C. and Yoosung alone together. 

Yoosung picked the suitcase from the floor and walked over happily,  
“How are you?”  
“Tired.” she admitted “It's not fun being dragged out of bed like that”  
“I'll bet” he sat himself beside her and handed her phone over, M.C. could see the flush in his cheeks now that he was up-close “Here”  
“Thanks... Yoosung what is it?”  
“What?” M.C. poked his cheek in response “Oh! It's nothing...”  
“Tell me!”  
“You look very cute” he admitted, glancing away. She smiled, blushing herself  
“Well I am wearing the clothes of the official RFA cutie” she teased gently. He blinked at her,  
“Woah, when Seven said you had decided to be nice I didn't really believe it." M.C. pursed her lips and leaned away from him, “Sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I like it!”  
She laughed lightly, shaking her head “It's alright.” Yoosung sighed in relief,  
“I thought I had ruined it for a moment. And that would've been a shame, I wanna have as much fun as possible before tomorrow!”  
“What happens tomorrow?”  
“You're going to Jumin's”  
“I'm WHAT!?”


	13. Yoosung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: sex

“It's okay! It's okay!” Yoosung soothed “I know and I'm sorry. Seven said there wasn't another way. You won't be there overnight, Zen is going to get you in the evening”  
M.C. hugged her knees to her chest. That made no sense, what could possibly be a good reason for that? Was Seven punishing her?  
“Hey, it'll be okay. It's only a day and he's not mad this time” Yoosung was still trying to reassure her “so let's just have fun, yeah?”  
M.C. released herself and pulled Yoosung in “You're right, I'm sorry. Let's have fun”  
“Um yeah!” He hugged back quickly, cheeks brushed pink again “so what do you want to do?”  
She was confused for a moment. Right. No bra. “How about Mario Kart, Seven has a Switch, right?”  
“Yeah, I'll get it!” he hopped up happily

Competition was fierce with the pair evenly matched. In no time at all there was some -definitely not cheating- from both of them. A nudge of the elbow at a crucial moment or an arm thrown up in just the right way to block the view are all unfortunate happenings when playing, nothing more. Tensions will naturally rise when two grown-adults play a light-hearted children's game together. M.C. barged Yoosung's kart out of the way right before the finish line,  
“No! NO! Dammit!” he threw his controller down onto the sofa and stamped his feet childishly. Pressing her hand to her mouth, M.C. stifled a laugh at the reaction.

Seven burst into the room,  
“What's going on!?”  
“M.C. is a cheater!”  
“Nu uh!”  
“Oh... You're playing a game” he sighed with relief “Please keep it down, I'm trying to work”  
“Sorry Seven!” Yoosung blew him a kiss and M.C. giggled. Seven shook his head at the two of them. Rubbing his eyes, he left the room. M.C. and Yoosung gave each other a shameless look and continued their game.

M.C. didn't even make it to lunch before she was complaining of hunger.  
“Did you skip breakfast _again_ ” Yoosung asked, pausing the game. “You're making me worry about you”  
“Not on purpose”  
He stood up and head to the kitchen, M.C. following behind, he paused  
“You can keep playing, I'll be back soon”  
“I'll help” she smiled at him which he returned gleefully and they continued.

M.C. jumped up to sit on the counter,  
“What are we making?”  
“I'm not sure, Seven's not that great at grocery shopping...” Yoosung replied as he rummaged the cupboards. “I mean look” he opened the cupboard beside her and laughed as Honey Buddha Chips fell from it “Oh! I think the eggs I got for him are still good, and there's usually some instant Ramen somewhere” he opened up a packet of the chips and snacked on a few before returning to his search in earnest.

After a moment he stood, holding the Ramen packets above his head in triumph,  
“I'm not the best cook but...”  
“Food is food. Besides, I'm sure it'll be great” he smiled at her compliment. She turned and set some water to boil, not moving from the counter. Yoosung took out the eggs and placed them on the counter beside the packets,  
“Hmm... I wonder what we should do while we wait” he tapped his chin mischievously. M.C. tilted her head,  
“For the water? We coul- oh” Yoosung moved before she could make her suggestion, standing himself between her legs, one hand on her thigh, the other grabbing her collar to pull her in. He paused, an inch from her face, waiting permission? Seven hadn't even done that. Should she...?

Fuck it.

She moved in, taking his face in her hands. His lips were soft and sprinkled with the sweetness of the chips. Moving his hand from her collar to her waist, he pulled her in closer and she gasped into his lips. He broke the kiss and smiled up at her sweetly. Something in his eyes stirred something within her, why would something so bright reveal something... dark?

The sound of the water boiling jolted her from the thought.  
“This is definitely better than before” he purred “Let's make lunch!” he turned and began preparing the food.  
“Are we going to make some for Seven too?” M.C. asked, sliding off the counter  
“Yep! He's not going to eat anything unless we do” they cobbled together their lunch, Yoosung heading off quietly to serve Seven his share.

Settling onto the sofa, the two began to eat, Yoosung humming to himself as they went. M.C. grinned at his good mood and they finished quickly. She set her bowl on the coffee table and was just reaching for her controller when Yoosung's bowl clattered down beside hers and he grabbed her wrist.  
“I think we had something else to finish~” 

He pulled her into him again, kissing her more deeply than before. She tipped backwards under his force, laughing lightly as he followed her down to lay on the sofa. Wrapping her legs around him, she trapped him against her and grazed her teeth over his bottom lip. He stiffened and suddenly his grip on her tightened. Slipping a hand under her shirt he grabbed her breast and squeezed gently, biting her lip in return. 

M.C. leaned into his touch, moaning quietly. Yoosung pulled back and flipped her shirt up, burying his face in her chest and biting carefully on her breastbone. Dragging her fingernails along his back, M.C. reached for his belt buckle, fumbling to open it one-handed. He leaned to the side and helped her, kicking his pants away before moving to pull hers off in return. She tugged at his shirt and he raised his arms to allow her to pull it off. 

He kissed her again, flicking a finger over her nipple and she arched into him. Soon, his hand was trailing down to her stomach, fingertips tracing the elastic of her panties. She hid her face in his neck as they passed the border, moaning as he rubbed a circle over that sensitive place. M.C. sucked on his neck to quiet herself as the curious fingers dipped inside. Suddenly, he curled his finger upwards hitting some delicious spot and she couldn't hold it, crying out into the air.

He didn't give her a break, keeping waves of pressure on the point and bringing his thumb to rub the circles again. She was moaning openly now, clutching him close desperately. She was close, so close when, cruelly, he pulled away. Betrayed, she looked up at him, panting  
“Yoosung...” she whined, nipping at the closest flesh she could reach  
“Don't I get a turn?” he teased  
“Well why didn't you say so?” 

M.C. reached into his boxers, he groaned as she took a hold of him carefully. Once again this was something new to her, but it didn't seem too difficult. She pumped slowly, watching his face carefully. Increasing the pressure and speed she waited until the moment he seemed most in ecstasy. She stayed at the rate that seemed to please him most.  
“M.C. y-you ah~ wai-” he pulled her in close and reached his end, dirtying his underwear. “Dammit.” he sighed.  
“My fault,” she leaned in and nibbled his earlobe “sorry”  
“It's fine, I don't think I have any condoms anyway.” that mischievous look crossed his face again “but, we're not done yet”  
“No?”

He kissed her once more and shifted himself down, pulling her panties away. She was just about to ask what he was doing when his tongue met her pussy. Her body reacted on it's own, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pressing him in further. A low whistle rang out through the room and the pair looked up to the source,  
“Oh no, I'm not here” Seven stage whispered, grinning from the doorway. M.C. blushed brightly and hid her face.  
“Get out of here, Seven!” Yoosung protested  
“Aaw It's my living room. Can't I join in?” Yoosung lifted himself to toss a cushion at him.  
Seven dodged it, laughing “Alright, I'm going. Maybe next time.” with the final tease, he left.

Yoosung huffed, “How long do you think he was there?”  
“Don't care. Get back to it.” M.C. surprised herself with the order, pushing his head back down.  
“Yes ma'am!” that dark thing inside her fluttered again at his submission and his mouth found her core again. He quickly bought her back to the end, tongue flicking and dipping in at just the right moments. Her thighs squeezed his head and she cried out breathlessly. Just as she feared she might suffocate the poor boy, she relaxed. 

He leaned against her leg with a giddy grin, wiping his face.  
“C'mere” she giggled and he crawled back up to her. He enveloped her in in a warm hug and they held each other close.

M.C. would have to take some time to figure out what exactly that strange feeling was, but not right now. Now it was time to nap.


	14. Yoosung's day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Possessive behaviour, mentions of gore

Soon after M.C. fell asleep, Yoosung carefully stood and made his way to the bathroom to wash up. Once clean and dressed he picked up the shirt he had noticed heaped in the corner. It was too small to be one of his, that only left M.C. as a possible owner. It unfurled as he picked it up, revealing the hidden grey matter.

Hurrying into Seven's office Yoosung held up the shirt,  
“What is this?”  
“A shirt? No wait! Is it actually a mimic?! Save yourself!” Seven snorted at his own joke, only barely glancing away from the screen.  
“Is it M.C.'s shirt?”  
“Yeah I guess, why?” he gave Yoosung more of his attention, realising the lack of cheer in his voice  
“Wanna tell me who's brain is smeared on it? Actually, better question, why was M.C. close enough for it to get on her?”  
“Uh... Yoosung I really have to work”  
“Seven!”  
“Yoosung, it's really better if you don't know”  
“You lied about what happened last night, didn't you?”  
Seven groaned “Yoosung, please stop asking questions”  
“No, I have to know! Was she in danger?!”  
“No! Look Yoosung, I will explain, but not yet. Just trust me that she was safe and please don't tell the others”  
Yoosung folded his arms, eyes downcast “Why is everything a secret with you?”  
“Yoosung...”  
“Fine. It's fine.” he turned and left with a sigh. Seven pinched the bridge of his nose and got back to work.

When M.C. awoke she found she had been covered in a blanket and her head was in Yoosung's lap. Yawning, she smiled up at him,  
“I'm sorry, Yoosung. How long was I out?” He peeked down at her from between his arm and his phone  
“Couple hours. You looked like you needed it.” he poked her nose, returning to his phone  
“Is there a chatroom open?”  
“Yeah but don't join, it's boring” He tucked her phone down into the sofa cushions as he spoke  
“Where's my phone? I'm sure the others wanna speak to me”  
“Uhh I don't know. And anyway it's boring. Look, I left” he tossed his phone to the side haphazardly.

M.C. laughed, sitting up “I'm gonna get dressed” she wrapped the blanket around herself like a skirt, taking hold of the suitcase handle “oh and... yoink!” she grabbed his phone and ran for the bathroom like a delinquent from authority. Locking the door behind her she saw he hadn't locked the phone before tossing it. Bingo.  
Yoosung has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung: Hey guys!  
ZEN: Back already?  
Jumin Han: Forget to mention something?  
Yoosung: Lol, it's M.C., I have his phone  
Yoosung: Couldn't find mine 

Her typing was interupted by Yoosung banging on the door. “Come on, M.C.. Don't look through my phone...”  
“Calm down, I only joined the chatroom. I don't wanna see your secrets!” She teased. Through the door she could hear him make a noise, something akin to a dog, angry it's having to share a toy. 

ZEN: M.C.! I missed you yesterday  
Jumin Han: Honestly, one of us should have raised the alarm sooner.  
Jumin Han: You've never gone so long without joining a room before.  
ZEN: Don't put it like that, you'll make me anxious for her safety...  
Yoosung: It doesn't matter now that I'm under 'constant supervision'  
Yoosung: Can't happen again, right?  
M.C. has entered the chatroom.  
M.C.: You really should put a lock on your phone  
Yoosung: Hey! You found it!  
ZEN: :questionemoji:  
ZEN: What's happening?  
M.C.: It's Yoosung  
Jumin Han: What about him?  
M.C.: I am Yoosung, using M.C.'s phone  
Jumin Han: Are the two of you tricking us?  
Yoosung: No. We just have each other's phones  
Jumin Han: Well switch back, this is confusing  
ZEN: For once, I agree  
Yoosung: Alright, wait a minute  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

In the corner she spotted a spider-web, fly flailing helplessly in its grip. From the angle she sat, the spider reflected in the mirror adding five to its ranks. M.C. shuddered and stood up. She grabbed her clothes, pulling them on quickly and head back out to Yoosung, holding his phone out to him,  
“Trade ya” he snatched it away petulantly “Where's mine?”  
“Missing again” he spoke shortly  
“No way it is!” she leant over to look at him “hand it over!” was it her imagination or where his eyes dulled?  
“It's my time, M.C.! Not theirs!” she gasped as he yanked her into his lap He squeezed her tight, too tight,  
“Yoosung! You're hurting me!”  
“This is my day.” he asserted, looking up at her.  
“Okay, got it. Your day, no chatrooms” she soothed, hoping the new bruises in the collection wouldn't be too big. She rubbed his shoulders in circles, easing his grip “You wanna finish the race?” he nodded.

Staying on his lap, she passed his controller to him and they resumed play. Though it took a match or two, the previous ferocious competition returned. However, the new seating arrangement changed the game somewhat, and Yoosung had the advantage. Sure, M.C.'s arms more easily found their way into his sight, but all Yoosung needed was a jostle of the knee and she was off course.

Soon, they were making accusations again. M.C.'s voice raised for a moment before Yoosung shushed her  
“We're gonna get Seven complaining again” they laughed together. From then on any sound above a whisper caused a round of shushing and laughing. Eventually the video-game was forgotten. 

Somehow hours had passed, this time Yoosung was complaining,  
“Man, there's nothing else to cook. I don't want ramen again.”  
“How about take-out?”  
“Deliveries can't get here directly”  
“Then we'll walk down the road and grab it!”  
“Yeah!”

They placed their order and M.C. stood up immediately,  
“Already? It's gonna be a while”  
“We can walk slowly” she held her hand out to him, which he took after a second. She head outside happily and he stumbled after her, regaining his footing as she paused to open the door.  
“What's the hurry? I thought we were gonna walk slowly” he laughed lightly  
“You're right, sorry. I just wanted to see the sky” his laugh froze on his face but she had already turned and continued to walk.

M.C. took a deep breath, and stared straight up, leisurely walking the path. The stars seemed to dance as they walked. She lost herself in those stars the best she could. At moments she felt the only thing anchoring her to the Earth was Yoosung's soft hand holding hers firm. This would likely be as close to freedom as she'd get now.

The air was cool as they went, talking about things that meant nothing, until their food appeared. They took it back inside, dropping Seven a box before settling onto the sofa once more to eat.

After the meal they watched TV lazily, something about take-away food is so good at leaving you sleepy.  
“We should go to bed” Yoosung sighed hazily  
“But then we'd have to move” M.C. whined, sinking further into the sofa  
“It's more comfy in bed” he stood and pulled her arm over his shoulder “and awaaaaay we go!” he hoisted her up. She yelped as she was slung over his shoulder. He had the strength for that?

He carried her through and flopped on the bed, still holding her. She fell forwards and rolled, giggling sleepily.  
“My pyjamas are still in the other room” she pouted through her laugh  
“Who needs pyjamas, we have underwear!” he kicked his shoes and pants off “See? Done.”  
M.C. did the same “I have one more!” she unclipped her bra and pulled it from under her shirt, tossing it away “But where will Seven sleep?”  
“He won't, he's been hired for something and he's behind.”  
“Oh.” it was her fault, if she had stayed at the apartment he wouldn't have had to waste so much of his time.  
Yoosung pulled her into a hug, curling up. Kissing her cheek, he let himself rest. 

Guilty, she did the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably won't be able to update as often in the next few days(unless I procrastinate lol), I have exams to study for, that's also why this one is a little shorter and a bit more rushed than normal


	15. A different kind of delivery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Kidnapping, victim blaming

M.C. awoke in the morning, at least, the time on her phone said it was morning. It was difficult to tell in a building without windows. Yoosung had already got up, it seemed, as the bed was empty. Stretching, she got up and head to the living room.  
“Good morning!” Yoosung chimed from the sofa “I was just about to get you. I went and got breakfast, Jaehee's going to be here to pick you up in about an hour.”  
A stone dropped in her stomach at the reminder, “Thanks Yoosung, but I'm not hungry”  
“Nope. Not allowed.” he scooped his cereal into his mouth.  
“Huh?”  
“I'm not gonna let you skip breakfast again. Eat.” he instructed.  
“Okay fine, just let me get dressed first” she sighed, unwilling to argue, and grabbed an outfit from the suitcase.

Once dressed, M.C. returned to the living room and picked up an apple, taking small, unenthusiastic bites. Seven emerged from his office, looking pale and exhausted, more so than he had when he visited her a few days ago. He rubbed his eyes, shoulders hunched.  
“You all finished?” Yoosung asked in-between mouthfuls  
“Not nearly. Our good friend Unknown launched another attack, I've been dealing with that instead”  
Saeran survived! He couldn't be too badly hurt if he was back to it so soon. M.C. worked to hide the joy she felt. “Is it safe?”  
“Yeah. I pushed him out but now I'm even more behind. I'm just taking five minutes.”  
“Have something to eat, maybe?” Yoosung offered, patting the space beside him. Grabbing a packet of chips, he collapsed into the spot and popped them open, leaning on Yoosungs shoulder heavily.  
“I meant actual food.” Yoosung clarified, rubbing his arm gently “Can't you ask for an extension?”  
“Not on this one. And it'll be big trouble if I don't complete it.”  
“When's the deadline?”  
“Friday” he began eating slowly, eyes fluttering closed every so often.

M.C. found her appetite in the news about Saeran and finished her apple quickly, reaching for another.  
Yoosung nodded in approval “See? You were hungry!”  
“Yeah I guess” for a few minutes they sat with nothing but the sounds of eating until an alarm blared from Seven's phone. He jumped up,  
“Break's over, back to slavery” he left without waiting for a reply, carrying his chips with him. M.C. watched him go,  
“I hope he'll be okay.”  
“It'll be bad for a few days then he'll be alright. It's not the first time this has happened, probably won't be the last.”  
She nodded “Well, at least you're here looking after him.” she nudged him with her elbow and he smiled “I better get ready to go”

Shortly after, and right on time, Jaehee arrived.  
“It's tidier in here than normal” she noted, looking around “Where's Seven?”  
“Working” Yoosung replied with a shrug “He's behind thanks to that hacker”  
'and me' M.C. added mentally  
“Ah... well we should be leaving too. Mr Han has a delivery arriving today”  
“Oh! Yeah hurry and get there, can't trust anyone but you to keep these things smooth, Jaehee!” with that he loaded M.C.'s suitcase into the trunk. As he turned, M.C. hugged him tight,  
“Do I have to go?” she whispered hiding in his shoulder. He squeezed her back, kissing her forehead,  
“It's only for the day and he's busy. It'll be alright. Call me if you need, okay?” he reassured. They held one another for a moment longer, before Jaehee cleared her throat. Pulling away, Yoosung opened the car door for her and she stepped in. The car was unremarkable from the outside, but the interior was comfortable and luxurious in an understated way. He closed the door behind her and he and Jaehee talked about something, she couldn't hear through the door for some reason, before Jaehee got in herself. 

Yoosung stood outside and waved as they pulled away, giving M.C. the 'call me' hand signal just before they turned the corner.  
“I see you took on board what we spoke about.” Jaehee said approvingly  
“I... honestly didn't decide anything. It just kinda happened” M.C. admitted “you were right though. They are good”  
Jaehee smiled a little at that “Yoosung and Seven? I suppose. They lack stamina though. You can't blame them, they're young.”  
M.C. giggled “That's a little mean Jaehee...” she thought back to Yoosung the night before “but I guess you're not wrong.”  
“Zen on the other hand, if he wants he'll keep it going and going an-”  
“Woah keep it in your pants, Jaehee” M.C. interrupted, giggles turning to laughter “I think you have things to handle today, best not distract yourself”  
She cleared her throat “You're right. I'm sorry”  
“It's fine, I was only teasing. You look up any new recipes?”  
“Not yet. We won't have time today, but you're coming to mine after Zen's so I'll have something ready for then. What do you like?” they were pulling into the nice part of town as she asked.

They spent the remainder of the journey discussing their pastry preferences. For whatever reason, Jaehee really knew her stuff about pastries from the world over. She was just describing Battenberg cake – a British vanilla cake with apricot jam, in a pink and yellow checker-board square, wrapped in marzipan - when they pulled into their destination, the underground parking of the C&R building. An elderly man opened M.C's door,  
“This is Driver Kim, he'll escort you upstairs.” Jaehee informed her.  
“You're not coming?”  
“No. Deliveries don't come here. I'll return after”  
“Alright. I'll see you later.” M.C. climbed out the car as she spoke.  
Jaehee nodded, waved and drove away.  
“This way, Miss” Driver Kim guided her from the parking spot and into an elevator. Tapping the button, he scanned his ID card and they were whisked upwards.

The elevator opened into the typical office hallway, though it was clear more money had been put into it than most companies would typically bother to spare. Each door they passed contained a busy room. Desks stacked high with documents and frazzled employees desperately trying to reduce the height, or at the least prevent the towers from falling. They were heading for the door at the end of the hall. Each step M.C. took seemed heavier than the last, as the growing realisation that she was about to be left alone with Jumin again climbed onto her back and weighed her down. 

Regardless, she was able to reach the door. Driver Kim knocked and waited, pulling it open when the room's occupant called,  
“Miss M.C. is here, sir”  
“Thank you, that will be all.” Driver Kim nodded and ushered her inside, closing the door behind her without entering himself.  
“Hello M.C.” Jumin greeted from his desk, writing something on the document in front of him  
“Hi” she stayed where she was, wondering if the reproach she felt reached her face  
“Make yourself comfortable” he looked up and gestured to a door on the right “There's a sitting room in there with refreshments and a restroom. You can also sit in here if you wish, but if someone knocks please go into the other room before they come in.”  
“Why?” she took looked around, still remaining in place. It was expensively furnished, modern but not decadent.  
“Because I don't want to deal with questions about having a woman in my office all day. Especially not one with obvious injuries.”  
“Ah...” 

Finally, she moved, heading to the sitting room door. He called out to her as her hand landed on the handle,  
“Wait a moment,” swallowing, she turned to face him “I spoke with Assistant Kang about the other day and it seems I owe you an apology.”  
This took M.C. aback “Do you feel like you should apologise? Or is this just because she said so?”  
“Why would I do something if I didn't feel it necessary?” he paused, assessing if she accepted the reasoning, before he continued “It's become clear to me that in the past few months you have become more than just...” he trailed off, looking for the right word.  
“A plaything?” M.C. offered, somewhat cattily  
He brushed off her remark “You are a member of the RFA now and I should not have acted the way I did. It won't happen again”  
She softened at that, he had acknowledged he was wrong. At last some vindication,  
“Thank you” she was about to continue into the sitting room but he spoke again,  
“Though I'd also like you to consider my perspective of the situation” she tilted her head, a signal for him to continue “You played with my feelings.”  
“What?”  
“You pulled what you did with Seven. Then you didn't try to reject me when I said I would visit, like you normally would.” she stared at him as he spoke “Furthermore, when I did visit, you wore my ribbon and a nice dress. You were positively delightful over dinner, and you had clearly shaved and moisturised. Yet you suddenly turned on me, and I know it wasn't because I punished you. You thoroughly enjoyed that in the past.”

M.C. clasped her hands together and considered it. Her behaviour was vastly different to that of the other her, that much was clear. Of course it would be confusing to the others, they had no idea she was a different person. And if her behaviour was so much more pleasant than before, then the wrong things could be interpreted. The shaving wasn't for his benefit, though she understood how even that could send the wrong signal. Not to mention the ribbon. It must have meant more than she knew. She'd have to ask Seven about it later. The whole thing was a misunderstanding?  
“I'm sorry, Jumin. I didn't mean to confuse you like that” she apologised sincerely.  
He nodded “I'm glad we understand each other” she could swear she could see a ghost of a smile brush his lips. She smiled in turn and walked into the sitting room, settling herself into the comfiest looking chair.

The room smelt like leather and wine. Without much to do, alone in a space meant for socialising, she toyed with her phone. That small voice in her head, the one that wanted Zen to be mad at Jumin, was now mad at her. What did she think she was doing apologising to him?! He was the one in the wrong, entirely. Nothing on her. She shook her head and puffed out a breath, silencing the little demon. She had given the wrong impression, she was partly to blame too. Both sides had accepted their own fault, they could move on. A chatroom opened and she joined happily.  
ZEN: M.C.! Is it really you this time?  
M.C.: Yes, hello!  
ZEN: You didn't come back yesterday  
ZEN: :sademoji:  
ZEN: I was waiting for you!  
M.C.: I'm sorry!  
M.C.: Yoosung hid my phone again when I gave his back :(  
ZEN: So childish...  
ZEN: But you're here now  
ZEN: How are you?  
M.C.: I'm good! How about you?  
ZEN: Excited to see you later  
M.C.: Me too!  
ZEN: How is it in the trust fund office?  
ZEN: Do you need me to come and get you early?  
Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom.  
M.C.: No, that's alright  
ZEN: Call me if you need  
M.C.: Hi Jaehee  
Jaehee Kang: Hello.  
ZEN: Hey  
M.C.: You're not busy, Jaehee?  
Jaehee Kang: I should be. The delivery is late.  
ZEN: Oh, that's today?  
Jaehee Kang: Yes, I'm just waiting now.  
Jaehee Kang: This is going to throw off the schedule.  
M.C.: I'm sure you can get it back on track  
ZEN: Yeah, If anyone can, it's you!  
Jaehee Kang: Thank you. I hope so.  
Jaehee Kang: M.C. would you inform Mr Han for me?  
M.C.: Sure

M.C. peered back out into the office and let Jumin know. He sighed but thanked her. 

M.C.: All done  
Jaehee Kang: Thank you.  
ZEN: Was there a problem with the pickup?  
Jaehee Kang: I won't know until they get here.  
Jaehee Kang: Even so, they should account for such things.  
M.C.: Not everyone can be as organised as you are  
ZEN: That's why she's the best at what she does  
Jaehee Kang: A pick-up does not require the same level of planning.  
Jaehee Kang: Not even close.  
Jaehee Kang: Especially when it's mostly entirely arranged in advance.  
ZEN: Thanks to M.C.  
Jaehee Kang: Yes.

She didn't remember arranging a pick-up of any kind, but then again it was probably done weeks ago by the other M.C..

Jaehee Kang: They're here.  
Jaehee Kang: Finally.  
Jaehee Kang: I must go.  
ZEN: Good luck!  
M.C.: Bye!  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
ZEN: Someone is going to be in the shit for that  
M.C.: I'll bet, but they weren't even that late  
ZEN: You think Jumin's clients will stand having to wait?  
M.C.: I suppose not

Now M.C. was really curious about what the delivery contained, she couldn't exactly ask, since she supposedly arranged it. Another question for Seven. 

ZEN: Still. Jaehee will get them on time again  
M.C.: Yeah, I'm sure  
ZEN: I've gotta go  
ZEN: Remember, call me if you need me to get you early!  
M.C.: Thanks, Zen!  
ZEN has left the chatroom.

She went back to playing idly on her phone. Some time later Jumin called to her. She stood and head back into his office,  
“The auction will start soon. Do you want to watch?” he gestured to a laptop he had setup on his desk. An auction of the delivery maybe? She could find out what it was,  
“Sure” she pulled a chair up beside his. Whatever video feed he was connected to wasn't active yet “Think it'll be a good one?”  
“I'm confident about this one. Two-hundred-thousand minimum. I'm sure of it.”  
“Well your instincts are usually right about this kind of thing”  
“I wouldn't call it instinct, rather I know my market well.” M.C. nodded in understanding as the feed connected.

The cold hands of panic squeezed her stomach and neck once again, caressing down her spine. Was it another one of Zen's livestreams? No. There was no red light. Just a figure with a bagged head, tied to a chair. A woman this time and hands behind her back, not on the arm rests. A masked figure was already approaching when the feed started. The clothes matched those Jaehee was wearing earlier. Forget that, it was Jaehee, had to be. She pulled the bag from the woman's head, a brunette, understandably terrified. The panic gave way to another feeling, so strong and sudden that M.C. couldn't identify it. However, she could identify what caused the change in her emotions - better said, _who_ caused the change in her emotions.

Despite the tear-run mascara and bag-crushed curls, it was unmistakeable. It was Kim Cho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams are still going so updates will be less frequent still, but here's a longer and less rushed chapter :)


	16. Accountability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Human trafficking, mentions of gore and murder

Jaehee checked off something on her notepad and stepped away, giving an order. More masked figures moved in, one washing Cho's face, the other fixing her hair. She attempted to shake them off, only for her head to be held in place harshly.  
“It goes live in fifteen minutes. They better clean her up quickly.” Jumin huffed “honestly, how difficult is it to be on time?” M.C. nodded robotically, gripping onto the chair as if she could tip off at any moment. Truly she felt she might, the room seemed to spin around her, with only the computer screen in focus. 

There was a swarm of activity around Cho. A set was being prepared, lights shining onto her and a white backdrop. A data card appeared at the side of the stream, showing a profile on Cho. Some kind of screen was placed at her feet as the people cleaning her up finished.  
“I was meeting someone in the park! She'll have raised the alarm. You can't do this!” her words were ignored by those in the room, but they punched M.C. in the gut. Poor Cho had no idea she had been set up. She still believed the person she had spoken to, the one M.C. had created, was real. M.C.'s deception was that convincing, she had completely duped this girl.

The worst part was how easy it was. Was Cho just naive or was M.C. more capable of duplicity than she thought?

It was all too much. M.C. stood slowly, earning herself a questioning look from Jumin, then sprinted for the restroom. She made it just in time for her breakfast to force itself back up her throat and expel into the toilet. Doubled over, she lost not only her breakfast but the previous nights dinner was joining it when there was a knock at the door,  
“M.C. are you alright?” Jumin called. She spat out the last of it,  
“Um, I think so.” her voice was hoarse  
“Are you unwell? You should have said something, I could send for medicine.”  
“I felt fine until a minute ago. I had take-out last night, maybe it was bad.” she lied and moved to rinse her mouth out at the sink.  
“I've always wondered how commoners trust those places. Do you need anything?”  
“No I'm good, I'll be out in a minute”  
“Alright. Feel free to lie down if you need” the assent was followed by the sound of him walking away. 

M.C. looked at herself in the mirror, tears tracked her face and there was a bad taste in her mouth, but she wasn't much worse for wear. Who knew you could be so disgusted by yourself as to physically vomit? She washed her face off and sighed. No matter what justifications she gave herself, she had led Cho there. There was no avoiding it or denying it. So she would face it. She would sit and watch and stew in her guilt and it wouldn't nearly be enough. There was no way to atone for this, but it was something. 

Drying her face, she steeled herself and head back into the office.  
“Feeling better?” Jumin asked, glancing up  
“Yeah. Probably won't happen again” She slid into her chair  
“Good. I got you a glass of water.” he gestured to it on the side of his desk “and the bidding is about to start”  
“Thank you” she forced her eyes to the stream, taking a sip. 

The screen at Cho's feet displayed '100,000' in red, after a moment it ticked up to '105,000' and then the bidding began in earnest. Occasionally, Cho would interject with a question about what was going on and why they were doing this, churning M.C.'s stomach once more, but no one responded to her. In minutes it surpassed Jumin's predicted 200,000, only slowing when it passed 250,000. Jumin leaned back in his chair, satisfied,  
“More than expected. Demand must have gone up. I'll have to look into it.”  
“Do you know who's bidding?”  
“No, only the data from the winner is saved” M.C. nodded, anonymity was likely important to the type of people who would... buy other people. 

Bidding finished at 295,000 and the text flashed green. That was it. No gore, no horror, just numbers on a screen and a frightened girl. Right. The bad part came later, when she was delivered to the buyer. Jumin leaned in and tapped on the keyboard for a moment, he shook his head,  
“That's a shame”  
“What is?” M.C. asked,  
“Those that go to this buyer are usually not seen again”  
“What happens to them?”  
“No way to tell. It doesn't matter enough to speculate either, as long as the buyer is satisfied.” he kept up his typing “No special requests either. Zen's not getting his hands on this one.”  
“Right” M.C. would never even know the exact suffering she'd sentenced this girl to. Even her pitiful attempt to hold accountability had failed. She studied Cho's face, committing it to memory, at the very least she would remember her and what she had done to her, because no one else would. 

There was a knock on the door. As instructed, M.C. retreated to the sitting room before Jumin called out for entry. She was just settling herself back into her spot when Driver Kim entered the room.  
“I have stomach medicine for you, Miss.” he set it down on the table  
“Oh. Thank you.”  
“Just doing my job, Miss. Mr Han sent for it.” With that he left. 

M.C. stared at the bottle, it was a kindness that she didn't deserve. Not that she wasn't grateful that Jumin had thought to try and help, but it was her own fault she felt the way she did. Actions had consequences and she had been confronted by them today. But she wasn't the one actively suffering for them! She slapped her own cheeks. Get a grip! A girl's life is over and you're sitting here worrying about yourself! Not just Cho's, now she thought about it. What about that man at Mint Eye who's brains had been blown out? How many others had been killed that night? That was her fault too! Those people had been trying to keep her safe! This whole time she hadn't even spared them a thought. She slapped herself again. Vile. Despicable. Selfish.  
“What are you doing?” Jumin's voice interrupted her self-flagellation. When had he come in? She looked at him, ultimately he had been the one orchestrating this and he was perfectly fine. Just another business deal and more money in his pocket, it didn't matter to him that someone was harmed on his account. She supposed she fit right in.  
“I can't get my head right” She shook herself out “I need to think more clearly”  
“Are you sure you're not unwell?” he asked, sitting beside her. His hand met her forehead and she felt herself relaxing into the touch.  
“I'm fine physically... I don't know what's wrong, maybe because I haven't been eating properly the past few days” It was mostly true, though she knew damn well what was wrong with her.  
“That can certainly be a reason. You really should be looking after yourself. Lunch is on the way.” He removed his hand “And take some of the medicine, just in case.”

Nodding, M.C. took one of the pills. She knew it would do nothing but it was easier than explaining.  
“I'll be back when the chef delivers our lunch. Assistant Kang should be back by then too.” with that, he left, taking the pill bottle with him. He muttered something about Driver Kim as he went but M.C. couldn't catch it all. Yet again she'd had medicine kept away from her. What was the deal with that? She sent Seven a text 'Yo, why aren't I allowed to keep medicine?' he was probably too busy to reply now, but he would soon.

With not much else to do, she opened a chatroom. It took a few minutes but finally a message popped up.  
Yoosung has entered the chatroom.  
M.C.: Hey Yoosung!  
Yoosung: Hi!  
M.C.: How's it going?  
Yoosung: Pretty bored  
Yoosung: I don't want to disturb Seven  
Yoosung: So I can't play LOLOL on any of his computers  
M.C.: Maybe you could study?  
Yoosung: :cryingemoji:  
Yoosung: I don't want to  
M.C.: Lol. I get it, don't worry  
Yoosung: How about you?  
Yoosung: Everything alright at Jumin's?  
M.C.: Yeah! But...  
Yoosung: But what?

Might as well make the lie more believable.

M.C.: I puked earlier  
M.C.: Might have been the take-out  
M.C.: Have you felt sick?  
Yoosung: No, not at all...  
Yoosung: Are you okay? Do you need medicine?  
M.C.: Jumin got it for me, but I felt fine as soon as it was gone  
Yoosung: That's weird  
M.C.: Yeah. I guess it just disagreed with me then  
M.C.: I'm alright now  
Yoosung: Good. Make sure you mention it if you start feeling bad!  
M.C.: Lol don't worry  
Yoosung: How did the auction go?  
M.C.: It was good I think. More than Jumin was expecting  
Yoosung: That's great!  
Yoosung: And Jaehee got it on-time?  
M.C.: You know her  
M.C.: Not a hitch  
Yoosung: Yep, that's Jaehee  
Yoosung: Maybe she could help Seven out  
M.C.: Is he having a rough time?  
Yoosung: Yeah...  
Yoosung: I wish I could help  
Yoosung: But I'm not a genius like him  
Yoosung: and he won't give me any info  
Yoosung: So I can't look up the guy who hired him  
M.C.: I mean...  
M.C.: Has Seven ever shared stuff like that?  
Yoosung: I guess not  
Yoosung: He says it's dangerous for us to know  
Yoosung: But I don't see what's much more dangerous than the other stuff we talk about  
M.C.: I mean. He's just trying to keep us safe, right?  
Yoosung: Maybe.  
Yoosung: I actually wanted to talk to you about something  
Yoosung: can you take a call now?  
M.C.: Uh yeah, sure.  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

Immediately her phone rang,  
“Hey Yoosung”  
“Hi M.C. is anyone there with you?”  
“Not right now, why?”  
“Same reason I didn't wanna ask in the chatroom, to keep this private.”  
“Uh okay. What's up?”  
“What happened the other night. When Seven came to get you?”  
“I was asleep and he woke me up and rushed me out.”  
“Uh huh” he didn't sound convinced “and when did brain splatter on you?”  
“What?”  
“I found your shirt. The story doesn't add up. Tell me what really happened.”  
“Yoosung... I don't...”  
“Why won't you tell me? God I feel so itchy just knowing you and Seven are sneaking something behind my back.”  
“It's not like that, Yoosung! Really! Just... I don't want Seven to be mad, alright? He asked me not to say and he probably just doesn't want you to worry”  
“Should I be worried?”  
“No!”  
Yoosung made that angry sound again. “I'm going to get Seven to tell me. He said he would and he better!”  
“Yoosung, don't get upset with him, okay?”  
“I'm upset with both of you!”  
M.C. groaned “Please? It'll make sense when he tells you. Besides, I like happy Yoosung, can I have him back?”  
Yoosung was silent for a moment “This isn't over. But fine. It's hard to stay mad at your voice anyway~” she couldn't tell if the cheer that suddenly returned was forced or not.  
“Thank you!” she piped happily, hearing Jaehee's voice from the office. “Hey Jaehee just got here so I'm going to go say hi. But here...” She blew a kiss down the phone “special for you!”  
“Ah! I'm blushing!” that was definitely genuine. He blew a kiss back “I'll talk to you later then!”  
“Bye!” 

She hung up, relieved she had been able to stall him. Was Seven really going to tell him the truth? How would he react? Maybe it was better if she was there when he did, so she could explain herself. She really hoped this wouldn't come back to bite her, but everything else lately had, so it wasn't a high hope at all.

Jaehee walked into the room, setting down a briefcase, she carried a stack of food boxes with her.  
“Hey Jaehee, how's it going?”  
“I'm alright. How about you? Mr Han said you were sick?”  
“Not really sick... just had a funny few minutes...”  
“Mhmm.” she frowned “Well I have your lunch. Mr Han will join us in a few minutes”  
“Great!”


	17. Closeness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentions of suicide

As promised, Jumin came in minutes later. The food was already plated and he sat beside Jaehee, across from M.C.. They began to eat, chatting as they went,  
“So Jaehee, why were they late?” M.C. asked  
“They claim that the GPS sent them in the wrong direction, but it's the latest model so I don't really believe that” she pinched the bridge of her nose “Nonetheless, I'm having someone check it.”  
“Why is it so difficult to find intelligent hired muscle?” Jumin sighed and Jaehee placed a hand on his shoulder, it was weird to see such casual contact between the two.  
“I mean, people don't exactly get degrees for that kind of work.” M.C. posited, earning a nod from the others.  
“I'm going to go home early today with M.C., I'll finish up some final things after lunch and leave. Will you join us?” Jumin asked, before sipping his drink  
“I'll have to finalise the sale and delivery first, but yes, I'll be there later.”

Conversation continued as they ate, M.C.'s phone signalled a text but she ignored it, not wanting to be rude. Soon, Jumin went back to work. M.C. expected Jaehee to follow, but she didn't,  
“What happened earlier?” she asked, moving to sit beside M.C.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Mr Han said he walked in on you hitting yourself in the face”  
“Not hard.” M.C. reassured, “I was just trying to pull myself together. I'm still not sure how I feel about all of this.” she spoke vaguely, hoping she wouldn't have to elaborate  
“I see. Don't worry yourself too much, it takes some adjusting, a little jealousy is normal.”  
Jealousy? Oh. Jaehee thought she meant the group relationship thing. She went with it. Was it always this easy to lie or had she just gotten better at it?  
“Thanks Jaehee” she leaned into the other woman. Jaehee smiled and hugged her briefly,  
“I need to get back to work, you'll be alright in here? Lunch isn't going to come back up, is it?”  
“No, don't worry, I'm okay.”  
“Alright” grabbing her briefcase she left once more, returning M.C.'s wave. Once again she was left alone.

Pulling out her phone, she checked the text message. Seven had replied;  
'Don't worry about it.' She huffed and typed back a response;  
'Come on Seven, it's something I should know. What if it comes up in conversation? How would I explain that I didn't know without making people suspicious?'  
He replied after a few minutes 'Other you threatened to kill herself a few times.' 

Oh.

She couldn't blame her, she had endured this RFA much longer then she had herself. What's more she had endured this RFA when they didn't like her. M.C. didn't want to imagine what the other version of her had suffered through. At least she was safe now. She tapped a quick 'Thank you for telling me.' to Seven, and closed the messenger. She began fiddling with her phone again, unsure how much longer she'd have to wait before Jumin was ready to leave.

Not long later he called her out, ready to leave. She followed him along the return journey to the car park, back through the hallway and into the elevator. Driver Kim was waiting for them, car door held open for Jumin. As soon as he stepped in, he moved to the other side to open it for M.C.. She thanked him as she climbed in. As they pulled out, she suddenly remembered,  
“My suitcase! It's in Jaehee's car.”  
“Don't worry miss, It's taken care of.” Driver Kim replied, eyes trained on the road  
“Oh, okay. Thank you!” She contemplated how nice it must be to always have someone remembering things like that for you. 

She admired the view as they drove. This part of the city was all glass skyscrapers, sparkling in the sun. Even the pavement seemed cleaner somehow, was it recently washed? Lush plant life decorated the streets, not a speck of litter to be seen.

M.C. lost the whole journey to watching the scenery. Before she knew it, Driver Kim was opening the door for her again. Jumin led her to the penthouse, it must have been the longest elevator ride of her life. Exactly how tall was this building?

They passed a few security guards before entering the penthouse. At the sound of the door closing, a flash of white head towards them, meowing,  
“Hello there, Elizabeth. How was your day?” Jumin asked, smiling gently he picked her up and scratched behind her ears, she meowed in response and peered at M.C. over his shoulder “This is M.C. she's staying for a few hours. Would you like to say hello?” he turned and stepped closer. M.C. held her hand out for Elizabeth to smell,  
“Nice to meet you!” After a thoughtful sniff, Elizabeth bumped her head against her fingers. M.C. took that as a 'Nice to meet you too!' and carefully stroked her head before she hopped from Jumin's arms and trotted her way back to the other room.  
“She likes you.” Jumin noted as he pulled his jacket off.  
She smiled “I'm glad” and followed him into the same room Elizabeth had entered. The living room. 

Jumin turned on the lights, revealing just how large the place was. M.C. had seen pictures before but none had quite captured the scale,  
“Make yourself at home” he told her, moving to sit beside Elizabeth, who had stretched herself out on the sofa. M.C. chose the armchair beside the sofa and settled in, watching Jumin shower the snow white cat in affection. He looked genuinely content, petting and talking to her soothingly. M.C. caught herself smiling at this softer side to him. It was almost enough to make her forget what had happened that day. Almost.

Elizabeth decided it was time to investigate the visitor and jumped confidently over to the armchair, sitting herself in M.C.'s lap.  
“You're so pretty” she told her earnestly, stroking her furry cheeks softly. Elizabeth purred contently and pushed her head up against M.C's chin, rubbing against her and walking circles over her lap. She laughed and Elizabeth paused before batting at a lock of her hair that had fallen forwards with the laughter.  
“Is that fun?” M.C. asked, grasping the lock and wiggling it for her. After a few whacks at it, Elizabeth crouched down, preparing herself with a pre-pounce wiggle. She launched, grabbing at the lock and landing on the armrest. She twist around to face M.C. displaying the caught hair in triumph.  
“Wow, you got it! Nice work” Elizabeth seemed proud of herself for a moment before dropping the lock and beginning to groom. Smoothing the ruffles of her fur created in play.

Noticing the phone camera pointed in her direction, M.C. looked to Jumin,  
“Taking a picture?”  
“Video” he corrected, lowering the phone, “There's a chat open”  
M.C. hummed in response and pulled out her phone, quickly reading through the missed messages.  
707: Why can't I finish this job?  
707: :cryingemoji:  
ZEN: What is it?  
707: secret lol  
ZEN: of course...  
Jumin Han: Perhaps if you managed your time better you wouldn't have this issue.  
707: It's not my fault!  
707: It's that Unknown dude  
707: First I had to upgrade the security  
707: Then he kept launching attacks  
ZEN: Haven't you been able to track him down yet?  
707: I did, but he moved  
707: :cryingemoji:  
707: Now he has a new location and I don't have time to find it  
707: :cryingemoji:  
Jumin Han: We appreciate you maintaining our privacy.  
707: Thanks!  
707: How's M.C.?  
Jumin sent the video  
707: O  
707: M  
707: G  
707: hbdeougbfo2oiefn  
707: so cute!  
ZEN: Are you serious?!  
ZEN: :angryemoji:  
707: Fuel for my soul~  
M.C. has joined the chatroom.  
ZEN: You know she's coming to mine later why would you do that?  
M.C.: Hi!  
707: Heyoo!  
ZEN: Hello!  
Jumin Han: What does me sending a video have to do with her visiting you?  
ZEN: Not the video!  
ZEN: Letting her play with the furball  
Jumin Han: Elizabeth the third  
M.C.: I wanted to play with her Zen...  
707: Who wouldn't?  
707: :heartemoji:  
ZEN: I thought you were in the office all day  
Jumin Han: We left early.  
ZEN: Good to hear you're deliberately setting off my allergies  
Jumin Han: Don't be ridiculous.  
ZEN: I might have to hose her off before she can come into my house...  
ZEN: M.C., I hope your shirt is cotton~  
ZEN: :winkemoji:  
M.C.: huh?  
707: PERVERT ALERT  
707: WEEWOO WEEWOO  
M.C.: I don't understand  
Jumin Han: I believe they're referring to the fact cotton shirts can be seen through when wet. 

M.C. turned pink and looked up to Jumin,  
“Seriously?”  
“Yes, it is quite the issue with the fabric.” he replied, oblivious to the actual nature of her question.

Jumin Han: Now she's embarrassed. I hope you're proud of yourself.  
ZEN: Only a joke, princess!  
M.C.: I hope so...  
707: M.C. I heard you were sick  
707: Feeling any better?  
M.C.: Yeah, I'm fine  
ZEN: Sick? What happened?  
M.C.: Nothing much, and as I said, totally fine now  
Jumin Han: I got her medicine.  
M.C.: Yeah so nothing to worry about  
ZEN: I'll believe that when I see it  
ZEN: If I can see from all the cat hair...  
ZEN: Offer to get you early still stands, M.C.  
Jumin Han: Not necessary.  
ZEN: I wasn't asking you.  
Jumin Han: I will send her with the car. She is not getting on the back of your motorbike.  
707: My breaks over  
ZEN: She can if she'd like  
707: Gotta get back to work  
Jumin Han: She'll travel by car. The motorbike is dangerous.  
707: have fun fighting, thanks for the video, Jumin  
707: It'll help me survive!  
707 has left the chatroom.  
ZEN: It's fine!  
Jumin Han: No.

M.C. looked up as there was a knock on the door, after a moment Jaehee walked in.

M.C.: Jaehee's here, I'm gonna go...  
ZEN: You can't stop me  
M.C. Has left the chatroom.

She waved to Jaehee, who returned it in kind. Jumin tossed his phone to the side,  
“That man is impossible.” he sighed  
“Arguing with Zen again?” Jaehee asked, settling herself onto the sofa. M.C. nodded, pulling a face,  
“Cat hair and motorbikes”  
“He cannot do something so dangerous with you. I won't allow it.” Jumin asserted.  
“What does he want to do now, Jumin?” Jaehee asked, M.C. was taken aback by the other woman's use of Jumin's name, rather than 'Mr Han'. This was the first time M.C. had ever seen her do that.  
“Take her with him on a motorbike ride.”  
“Well... he hasn't crashed in a very long while and I'm sure he'll drive safely with her.”  
“Jaehee don't defend him, please.” Jumin pinched the bridge of his nose. Another surprise, he didn't call Jaehee 'Assistant Kang'. It made sense if she thought about what Jaehee told her about the relationship between them, but it still felt off. They didn't even refer to each other this way in the chatrooms. Jaehee pushed her glasses up to her forehead,  
“Let's not think about it.” she suggested “Did you read any more of that book?”

M.C. went back to her phone, leaving them to their conversation. Soon, she found her eyelids drooping, she hadn't realised she was so tired. However, a lot had happened today. She couldn't fall asleep now, it would be rude. Despite her fighting it, her eyes fell shut and sleep pulled her into the cushions.

When she awoke, she noticed the warm body in her lap before her eyes even opened. Looking, she found a ball of white. Sleepily she smiled, stretching her shoulders out. Looking over she saw Jumin and Jaehee had relaxed in however long she had been sleeping. Jumin leaned into the corner of the sofa, arm over the armrest, holding a book. Jaehee was tucked under his other arm, on her phone. The sight before her was stranger than the names and she had to remind herself that this should be expected.

Perhaps sensing the eyes on him, Jumin looked up at her,  
“You're awake”  
“I'm sorry I didn't mean to sleep”  
“It's quite alright. You're not completely well.”  
“I'm glad you woke up when you did. Zen's expecting you soon.” Jaehee added “Do you need any more medicine?”  
“No, I'm alright thank you.”  
“I'll send for Driver Kim” Jumin said, pulling out his phone.

Within minutes, Driver Kim was at the door. M.C. carefully moved Elizabeth from her lap, earning a slightly annoyed meow, but the cat quickly settled herself back to sleep. Jaehee began to stand, only for Jumin to wrap his arm around her, “Where are you going?”  
“To escort M.C. to Zen's” Jaehee replied. Jumin shook his head,  
“If you go over there you won't come back tonight. Driver Kim can handle it.”  
“Fine” Jaehee relented quickly, relaxing against him again “I'll see you soon, M.C.”  
“Yeah. Bye guys” she waved and followed Driver Kim out.


	18. Zen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sex, strangulation, mentions of drugging, mentions of rape, implied sex with dubious consent

Driver Kim let her out in front of Zen's house, he walked out to greet them,  
“Hold on! No closer!” M.C. cried, holding her hand up to him. He paused, confused “Cat hair!” she began brushing herself off the best she could as Driver Kim sat her suitcase beside Zen.  
“Right,” he laughed “You had me going for a second there”  
“Huh?” she waved to Driver Kim as he left  
“I thought Seven had lied to me about the attitude change for a moment”  
“No, no I just don't want to make you sneeze” she finished her cleaning “I think that's good”  
Picking up the suitcase, he closed the gap between them and grabbed her hand “Let's go in then.” 

After a short tour of the house, they settled on the sofa and Zen looked her over, huffing,  
“Look at you! I know the face was Jumin, but who else has marked you up?” he touched the bruises on her neck and arm carefully  
“Those were Seven... I think I might have some on my ribs from Yoosung too.”  
Zen scoffed “Honestly. I'd rather they just wrote their names on you.”  
“What do you mean?” M.C. looked at him in confusion  
“You don't realise what they're doing?” she shook her head “I'm sure you'll figure it out. Anyway, did you survive the trust fund home base?” M.C. laughed,  
“Yes it was fine. It's so big in there!”  
“Right? I swear I get lost in there sometimes.” he lamented, rubbing the back of his neck  
“Maybe you should ask him for a map. Then you can mark off the dangerous areas. Here be cat hair”  
Now Zen was laughing too, “I'll have to get it from Jaehee, she probably knows the hairiest rooms by heart”  
“Do you think Jumin even remembers every room? He might have a staff member to guide him around!”  
“I've never seen one, maybe they hide in the walls. Like gremlins waiting to be called upon” Zen mused they both began to guffaw.

The laughter eventually calmed enough for them to continue conversation,  
“So, how have your rehearsals been going recently?” M.C. asked, wiping away a tear  
“Well, the co-stars a bit of a bimbo but we're nearly ready. Opening night is in two weeks”  
“Maybe I can go see, since I'm not stuck in the apartment any more” she smiled hopefully  
“Oh! I already got a ticket for Jaehee, you two could go together!” he grinned in return, clearly happy with the suggestion  
“That sounds so fun!” she clapped once in delight. Zen seemed to consider her for a moment,  
“Wow. You mean it.”  
“Yeah of course”  
“Are you sure you're feeling okay, babe?” Zen asked, leaning in to feel her forehead  
“Yeah seriously. I haven't felt sick since this morning and I had a nap at Jumin's so I'm totally fine”  
“Seven didn't exaggerate at all” he hummed, moving his hand from her forehead to cup her chin “I like this new you.” before M.C. could bristle with how uncomfortably close to the truth he had unknowingly come, his mouth was on hers.

He hadn't wasted much time at all. 

She no longer surprised herself when she unthinkingly pulled him closer. His arm snaked around her waist and held her against him as his tongue danced between her lips. He pulled back, smirking,  
“Yes, this is _much_ better, I'll have to leave my name too. He moved in to her neck, opposite side from the bruise left by Seven. Though he opted to nibble gently and suck rather than bite. Running a hand through his hair, she let off a small, pleased sound. His hands explored her as he pulled back again, planting a kiss on the newly formed hickey. He trailed a hand down her back and squeezed her butt, earning a surprised gasp. M.C. breathed a laugh, returning the gesture, he was firm and muscular, fitting for someone who worked out as often as he did.  
“Feeling bold are we?” he whispered directly into her ear, she shivered.

Suddenly, she was in his arms, bridal style and they were heading to the bedroom,  
“So I can be bolder” he growled. Giggling, she protested unconvincingly,  
“I just got here~”  
“And you could have been here earlier, if you asked. I've been waiting all day.” he lay back on the bed gracefully, pouting.  
“Oh you poor thing.” she teased, wrapping her arms around him. Briefly she wondered where this side of her had sprang from, though she realised it wasn't so out of line compared to her other actions over the week. He pulled her in,  
“Yes. But now the princess is here to heal me” He kissed her again and she felt she might melt into him, he rubbed circles into her lower back, feeling her soft skin.

The kiss grew in intensity and soon she had to gasp away from him. She ran a hand up his shirt, feeling more of his muscular frame. In a flash he was throwing the cloth to the side.  
“What's the point of touching if you can't look?” he winked and she giggled again. Straddling his waist she sat back on her haunches and made a show of looking him up and down, biting her lip. He groaned and pulled at her shirt, she raised her arms to let him remove it and he wasted no time in unclipping her bra and pulling that away too.

He leaned in and kissed her breasts, before taking a pert nipple in her mouth and sucking. She moaned quietly and held onto him, kissing the top of his head. Peering up at her, he murmured,  
“Fuck. I'd rather play a little longer first but you are just too exciting right now.” he undid her pants with practised movements and she moved to help him slide them away, her underwear followed. She grabbed at his pant buckle, removing them with less grace than he had, but getting the job done quickly enough. He shimmied out of the remainder of his clothes and turned, grabbing a condom, careful not to jostle her from his lap.  
“Let me.” she took it from him and put it on him, blushing lightly.  
“Very bold” he chuckled and pulled her in for another kiss, grabbing her hips and positioning himself under her. M.C. squeaked, she hadn't considered their position to be possible for their current purpose before. Nonetheless she followed Zen's hands as he guided her down onto him, moaning into the kiss. 

Holding onto his shoulders she bobbed up and down on him, leisurely at first but soon picking up pace. Zen's grip on her tightened as they went and M.C.'s head dropped onto his shoulder,  
“Oh God!” she cried out, this new position hitting her in ways she had never expected. The sound of her seemed to spur Zen forward and they began to build faster to their release. With a final, wordless cry she collapsed onto his chest. He shuddered under her and held her tight against him for a few moments as he found his own end. 

They stayed still for a while, catching their breath before Zen tilted her head up for another kiss. He rolled to the side, keeping her in his arms as they unpeeled from each other.  
“That was... wow” M.C. began to speak but couldn't find the words she needed. Zen chuckled again,  
“See how fun it is when you don't act so pissy, princess?” she made a sound of agreement, frowning as something occurred to her,  
“It didn't happen this time.”  
“Hmm? What didn't?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.  
“Well it's kinda weird but the other day when I was...” she gestured to the two of them “with Yoosung”  
“Fucking.” Zen filled in the gap. She cleared her throat with a nod and continued,  
“I just got this feeling that's hard to describe. I think it was bad but I'm not sure” Zen eyed her thoughtfully,  
“Well, what happened when you felt it?”  
“The first time, nothing. I was just looking at him. The second, I told him to do something and he said 'yes ma'am!' or something like that” She explained. Zen snorted,  
“Leave it to Yoosung”  
“Leave what to him?”  
“I'll put it this way; part of you wanted to see him beg and cry, didn't it, babe?” This took M.C. aback, the suggestion was surprising itself but what got her more was that it was right. He continued “He looks and acts like such a sweet thing, most of the time. It ignites certain urges, in those that have them. Seems to me that you're getting a little tired of being at the bottom of the hierarchy”

Abruptly, he was on her, legs squeezed shut painfully between his knees and arms pulled up over her head. After a moment of adjusting, he held both of her wrists together in one hand. Before she could ask what he was doing, his free hand closed around her throat. She squirmed under him, eyes wide in shock. Was he trying to kill her? Desperately, she tried to pull in a breath. Oxygen ran out so quickly. Why was he doing this, had she made him jealous? What frightened her most was the expression on his face; dark amusement and something she didn't recognise. Was this what bloodlust looked like?

Just as her vision began spotting black, he let go. Choking, M.C. swallowed as much air as she could, still trapped beneath him, strained tears running from her eyes. He watched her struggle, smirk planted on his features.  
"Why?!" She managed to sputter out. Rolling off of her, he effortlessly trapped her in his arms, back pressed to his chest and a leg intertwined with her's. She couldn't even move her arms.  
"I wanted to. As for Yoosung, have you seriously fallen for his innocent face? Sure it's good enough to fool strangers, and get away with things, but after what he's done to you? That boy's not one to push around"  
"What he's done to me?"  
"Did you never figure it out? Or has he duped you so much you forgot?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"I thought you were smarter than that, Princess. Did you seriously never wonder why you couldn't help but fall asleep when he visited?"  
Whatever he was talking about had happened to the other M.C., she couldn't even guess what he meant. He took the silence as a 'no' and continued  
"Aw babe, he was drugging you!" He took the same tone one might when revealing a prank "and then having his way while you were asleep and heading off home!"  
He laughed as he felt her stiffen in his arms "And just for a different reminder~" he reached over her, grabbing his phone and scrolled through the gallery "here!"

The video began with her in the apartment -the other her since she didn't recognise the scene- standing chest to chest with Seven, glaring up at him. It looked like they had been arguing. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted. She smacked at his back, yelling in protest, but was ignored. He threw her to the bed and was on her in an instant, hands grabbing and groping as she fought to get him off of her. It was pretty clear what was going to happen next,  
"Stop it! I don't want to watch this!" She yelled, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. What exactly caused such a switch in Zen's behaviour? He laughed again, dropping the phone to the bed, she was in serious danger of crying now.  
"What's the matter babe, were you trying to forget that?"  
"Why are you doing this? Are you mad that I spent time with Yoosung and Seven?"  
"Oh no, not at all. I'll show you mine too." She shook her head fervently, misery finally spilling over from her eyes "Ah~ that look on your face is intoxicating!" He licked away one of the tears and bit her earlobe to punctuate his point.

The bite was hard, as was his erection against her leg. She wasn't quite sure which pulled the sob from her. One of his hands cupped her breast while the other travelled its way between her legs. In her distress he found the desire to go again. She might have wanted it a few minutes prior but now she wasn't in the mood at all. 

Despite this, she knew she had no other choice but to let him.


	19. Exposed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: references to rape and murder

She could hear the rain in her dreams. As her eyes opened she saw the downpour streaking the windows. Zen was awake but still beside her, fiddling with his phone. The blanket was pushed down to his waist as he half sat up, propped by a pillow.  
“Good morning, babe” he greeted happily. She grunted in reply, not feeling his good mood herself, the events of the night before leaving an angry, bitter, taste in her mouth. Zen pulled her over to him,  
“I said; Good morning” he repeated  
“Good morning” she replied unenthusiastically. Pleased, his kissed her head, huffing as she didn't react,  
“Don't act like that. We had fun, didn't we?”  
“ _You_ had fun.”  
“Oh please, don't pretend you didn't enjoy yourself. You're just mad about Yoosung.”  
“Yes!” she snapped “And Seven, and Jumin and you.”  
“Here we go...” Zen rolled his eyes.  
“What I don't get” she continued in her anger, ignoring him “Is why none of you just grab a girl off the street. Then you wouldn't even have to share.” She caught herself in the tirade, hearing Zen scoff in offence,  
“We're not sexual fiends prowling in alleys, M.C.. Sex stays within the RFA. Sure, Yoosung has the girls he follows, and Seven could get any amount of blackmail. As for Jumin and I, well... We can both get our hands on a person if we want. But you! You're a special case. You walk right on in and gave yourself to us and then act surprised when we played with you?" M.C. could fire back to this argument, but not without revealing herself. Besides, now she had got the initial outburst from her system, she felt the need to retreat a little, provoking was not a good idea. 

"And why is it okay for you to upset me and not Jumin?" she changed the subject, still angry but letting less of it affect her words.  
"Jumin can make you feel however the hell he wants. He just needs to learn how to do it without marking up a pretty face... Are you finished accusing me of things now?" He glared at her, obviously close to losing his patience with the conversation. If last nights behaviour was caused by his good mood then Christ she wanted to avoid what would come with the bad. The last ounce of fight left her.  
"I'm sorry." She looked away "I just found last night tough to handle"  
"Well obviously, babe! That was the point" he pulled her chin to face him again and kissed her "can we talk about something else now?" She nodded “Good! Because my schedule for the day is totally clear, just for you. Though it looks like we're going to be stuck inside...”  
“Yeah it's really pouring out there.” M.C. agreed, looking back out the window  
“Snuggle weather” he grinned, squeezing her gently.

Despite herself, M.C. relaxed into his arms. She had been having a good time up until he suddenly turned on her, and he seemed back in the friendly mood now. Best to keep him in it. She buried her face in his chest,  
“I'll just go back to sleep then” she teased, closing her eyes. Even though it was a tease, there was something soothing about the rise and fall of his chest.  
“No! I wanna talk to you” He whined lightly, kissing the top of her head and smelling her hair “and I wanna take a picture. If Jumins gonna post a video he thinks is cute, then I can do the same”  
“A picture? Now? But I'm not dressed...” She looked up, blushing at the idea  
“It's nothing they haven't seen before, babe. And you seriously look so cute right now~” he was already holding the phone up. The shutter sounded before she could protest further. “Anyway, I noticed you used Seven's shampoo, it's not great for your hair. Use mine today and I have a spare bottle you can take when you go”  
“Oh, um... thank you” If he was trying to distract her, it worked “How did you know I used Seven's?”  
“The smell, strawberries. Speaking of which, time for breakfast?” M.C. nodded enthusiastically, the suggestion making her realise she hadn't had dinner the night before. 

Soon they were in the kitchen, Zen in pyjama pants and M.C. in nothing but one of his shirts. M.C. opened a chatroom while Zen cooked a simple breakfast.  
Yoosung has joined the chatroom.  
M.C.: Hey Yoosung!  
Yoosung: Hi M.C.! Did you have breakfast?  
M.C.: Not yet, it'll be ready soon  
M.C.: How about you?  
Yoosung: Yep! Got some food into Seven too  
M.C.: How is he?  
Yoosung: Still not finished  
Yoosung: I'm getting worried  
Yoosung: He doesn't usually cut it this close, even when he falls behind  
M.C.: When's the deadline?  
Yoosung: Tomorrow  
M.C.: Yikes...  
Yoosung: Yeah, exactly!  
Yoosung: I also missed most of my classes this week  
M.C.: That's not good  
Yoosung: at least I can still move product from here  
Yoosung: but I wish I could get to the shipyard for more  
Yoosung: running low  
M.C.: A small silver lining I guess  
ZEN has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung: Hey Zen!

Zen sent the picture had taken in bed and M.C. felt her cheeks inflame. She hadn't got a good look at it earlier but now she saw it was the two of them pressed together, a slight blush on her cheeks. M.C. was grateful that her nudity was mostly hidden thanks to the position. 

ZEN has left the chatroom.  
Yoosung: :shockemoji:  
M.C.: …  
M.C.: Yoosung, can you get Seven to remove that?  
Yoosung: I'll ask 

“M.C. stop talking to Yoosung, breakfast is ready!” Zen said, waving a plate at her.  
“Okay!”

M.C.: Thank you!  
M.C.: I'm gonna go eat  
Yoosung: Alright, have a nice meal!  
M.C.: Talk later  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

She put her phone down and strolled over to eat.

Yoosung made a noise, staring at the photo sent by Zen. He'd ask Seven to remove it immediately! Right after he saved it for himself... He head into the office and froze at the image on Seven's screen. The security feed from Rika's apartment, rather than the work he was supposed to be doing. It showed, in broad daylight, a strange man taking M.C..  
“What the fuck is that?” he asked, task at hand forgotten. Seven flinched, minimising the footage quickly but too late, he was already caught. “Seven. What. Is. That?” he marched over and shoved the chair away from the desk,  
“I... uh... well...” Seven held his hands up in defence but there was no way out of this one, he had no choice but to admit, with a sigh “I lied about why I had to get M.C. away from the apartment”  
“Yeah I knew that already “ Yoosung's eyes bore into him, anger stabbing at the lie “You told me it wasn't something to worry about. But that looks like a big worry. Who is he?!”  
“Hey, I got her back!” he protested, pushing his chair back to stand and give himself some distance from the other. “It's Unknown, I'm pretty sure. Though I'm still trying to find out exactly who Unknown is. I can't find anything on him.”  
“You don't know anything? Still?”  
“Well... M.C. said he's my brother. I think she's right.” he shrugged in nonchalance, hiding just how he felt about that information.  
“What? Why didn't you tell me?!” Yoosung's words lost their bite at the shock of the news.  
“Two reasons; first, I didn't want anyone to know my security didn't work. Second... M.C. went willingly.”  
“Oh...” Yoosung didn't blame her for that, he'd always been opposed to keeping her trapped in the apartment alone. He felt it even more when she had been so excited to see the sky.  
“We can't tell the others.” Seven added. They both knew very well that M.C. might not survive the punishment that would come from that information.  
“You're right. But you have to tell me everything that happened.” Yoosung insisted, leaning towards him demandingly.

Seven did exactly that, but he didn't start from M.C. being taken from the apartment. He started from the night the camera flickered, the night the M.C.'s had switched. Yoosung listened closely, eyes wide. He leaned back on the desk to go it over in his mind before blurting,  
“We need to get the original M.C. back! Who knows what she's told them about us?”  
“I don't know how yet, but I am looking to steal the algorithm M.C. told me about. When I have it and figure it out, I will pull her back.”  
“They both know too much.” Yoosung added, raising his eyebrows. Seven nodded, understanding his point. 

Meanwhile, Jumin and Jaehee were already at work, the day starting earlier for this pair than the others. Jaehee tapped at the planner in her hand,  
“...and then there's a lunch meeting on Friday with a raw materials importer” she finished  
“That's not particularly busy.” Jumin approved “And what does the end of the week look like for you?”  
“I'm picking up M.C. and she'll stay with me until Seven can take her again on Friday afternoon. After that I'm going to stay at Zen's. On Sunday I have some final preparations to finish for a job on Monday night.”  
“Zen and yourself could both stay with me.” Jumin offered, flicking through a contract  
“I'll ask him”

It was an uneventful day for the RFA, by the time Jaehee knocked on Zen's door, him and M.C. were curled together on the sofa, watching TV under a blanket. Neither had bothered to dress. Zen hopped up to answer, leaving M.C. to peer up from where she lay. Jaehee shook off her umbrella before folding it and stepping in properly. Zen dipped her into a kiss the moment she crossed the threshold. She pulled away after a moment hiding her fluster,  
“I take it M.C. isn't ready to go?”  
“Sorry Jaehee!” she called and jumped up to dress.  
“Hey wait! Why don't you both just stay here?” Zen suggested, standing Jaehee up again but keeping a hold on her waist.  
“I'm tempted but I have business to attend to at home. Besides, I'll be back tomorrow” She straightened her glasses. He pouted and kissed her again. 

When M.C. returned, Zen and Jaehee were chatting on the sofa,  
“Jaehee has the shampoo” Zen called to her, she nodded and moved to sit with them.  
“Zen, I forgot to mention. Jumin has offered for us to stay with him tomorrow” Jaehee noted. Zen rocked his head from side to side, considering it,  
“Yeah I guess. If he gets that damn furball hair cleaned” Jaehee nodded and turned to M.C.,  
“Ready to go?”  
“Yep!” All three stood, before they could head to the door, Zen pulled them both into a hug.  
“You really can't stay?” he asked, kissing them both in turn.  
“No, I'm sorry. However, next week we absolutely can.” Jaehee promised. He perked up at that,  
“I'll be waiting!” he released them. They said their goodbyes, accompanied by more kissing, and left.

Jaehee began speaking as they drove away,  
“I have all the ingredients we need for a few recipes we talked about, as well as ice-cream and popcorn. Still want to watch musicals with all of that?”  
“Totally!” M.C. exclaimed excitedly “But I thought you had things to do? Don't let me keep you from it.”  
“Oh no. I lied.” she admitted, smiling  
“huh?”  
“Forgive me for wanting you to myself for a night.”


	20. Calm

Jaehee's house was immaculate as expected, M.C. was almost afraid to mess it up, but Jaehee's clear and instant relaxation as she walked through the door had a calming effect on her too.  
“If we start baking now we could have dinner and it would be ready for dessert.” Jaehee considered, not stopping until she reached the kitchen.  
“Hmm... sounds good! But do we start watching musicals during dinner or save it for dessert?” M.C. followed her all the way through, abandoning the suitcase near the door. Jaehee paused as she reached for a cupboard,  
“Maybe I should change first, I don't need another flour coating on my work clothes.” she teased, before continuing, pulling out ingredients. M.C. threw her hands up in indignation,  
“You were wearing an apron!” she protested, scrunching her nose “Besides, it was your fault for challenging how I see the world”  
“My fault?” She turned to face the other woman, eyebrow raised “For a mild surprise?” M.C. couldn't help but notice the quirk of her lips and slightly lowered shoulders– had she ever seen Jaehee so at ease? No looming deadlines followed her home or cat suddenly placed in her care, this was her place and free time to do with as she pleased. M.C. wondered if her world's Jaehee would ever get the same.  
“Is there something on your mind?” She asked, and M.C. realised she had been staring.  
“Oh! Not really, I'm just happy that you're happy” she offered a smile which was returned warmly.  
“Here, I have the recipe written down, mind measuring while I change?” Jaehee suggested, M.C. agreed gladly.

Jaehee didn't take long, returning in comfy casual clothes to find M.C. struggling with her scales. Having already noticed the issue, she stood in the doorway to watch if M.C. could figure it out. Stifling a laugh, she realised that the other was whispering arguments to the object,  
“Are you serious?! I've dumped half this bag in here, there's no way it weighs that little. Work!” Defeated, she slumped onto the counter.  
“It helps if the bowl is only resting on the scales” Jaehee finally offered help. M.C. shot up straight with a sound of surprise,  
“How long have you been there?” she asked, looking over her should bashfully.  
“Not long. Here.” Jaehee approached and lifted the bowl, showing that half of it had been resting on the bag of flour. M.C. covered her face,  
“Seriously? I'm not cut out for baking, Jaehee” she sighed through her fingers. Jaehee shook her head sympathetically and gently pulled her hands from her face,  
“You just don't have much practice, I'll show you”

M.C. watched carefully as Jaehee took her through the recipe and each technique used. The more they went the more it was obvious that baking and Jaehee just fit together. Something about her tendency for precision but without the stress of a time limit just matched with the task at hand. It was fun learning from someone who enjoyed what she was doing and soon M.C. found herself following along with the same confidence that Jaehee held. Together, they slid their creation into the oven. M.C. hummed to herself as Jaehee set the timer, tapping her foot to the song in her head, there was nothing more to do with the recipe but wait. 

After a few minutes break, Jaehee stood again to start dinner. M.C. suggested take-out instead, since they were definitely not eating healthy that night, but was quickly rebuked,  
“No. Twice in one week is bad, especially when it made you sick the first time!” M.C. made a show of being disappointed, pouting dramatically and crossing her arms, but couldn't hold the pretence long before she scampered after Jaehee to help. The meal was simple enough to make so M.C. instead busied herself cleaning the baking mess.  
“M.C., you're a guest. That's not necessary.”  
Not even pausing in her actions, M.C. replied,“No it's okay! I want to help! Besides, I'd feel bad leaving any mess here”  
Stirring the pot, Jaehee examined her, paying close attention to the fading bruise on her cheek,  
“I'm sorry to say this, M.C., but did Jumin knock you into a new personality?”  
M.C. turned away from her, under the guise of scrubbing a tough spot, “Not quite.” she glanced up hearing no response. Jaehee's inquisitive look urged her to continue “I... had a change in perspective the night before he came over.” she lied. No, not a lie, a half-truth. Were the other her and Jaehee better friends than this? “Why? Don't you like it?”  
“Are you seriously asking me if I preferred how unpleasant you were to me before?”  
“Maybe you liked it?” M.C. offered the lame justification to her worry, but was relieved by the response. They laughed together at the suggestion and moved on. Though it stung a little to hear the other her could be cruel to Jaehee. She could only hope the other her treated her original RFA with more kindness. 

Jaehee's question had bought something M.C. had wanted to ask to the front of her mind. She pondered it a minute before asking timidly,  
“Hey Jaehee...? Has Zen ever... scared or upset you? Like, on purpose?”  
Jaehee considered the question as she plated the food, “He's tried a few times but didn't achieve much. What happened?”  
As they sat down to eat M.C. explained the events of the night before, something in Jaehee's eyes changed as she spoke, softness sharpening. M.C. almost changed the subject at the sight but pushed through the misgiving to tell the whole story,  
“I just don't understand why.” she finished, pushing her food around the plate.  
“Isn't it obvious?” Jaehee asked and M.C. shook her head, looking back up to her. Jaehee opened her mouth to explain but was interrupted by the timer ding “hold that thought,” she quickly head back to the kitchen, turning off the oven and setting their dessert on the counter to cool. M.C. floundered in her chair as she waited, searching for the obvious thing she had apparently missed.

She watched Jaehee expectantly as she sat back down,  
“It's the same reason we watch his livestreams, and why he likes running the red room,” it must have shown that M.C. wasn't following because she elaborated further, resting her chin on her fist, “pain is delicious~ The sounds, expressions and movements it creates are -” she lost herself in her delight for a moment before pulling back to the conversation. M.C. dropped her fork, losing her appetite for the millionth time that week,  
“I thought he liked me.” she admitted  
“He does! That's why there are no marks on you... aside from the hickey”  
“But-” M.C. began to protest and was immediately cut off  
“I can't say I understand it myself, but I assure you it's true. I personally prefer it in strangers or enemies but Zen enjoys it in those he likes too,” she shrugged “different kinds of sadism.”  
M.C. couldn't find a response, she hadn't expected Jaehee to be so cavalier in calling herself, or Zen, a sadist.

Jaehee continued to eat and M.C. decided to change the subject,  
“When did the RFA get together? Not like – when it was formed, but when it became a relationship. Was it always like this?”  
“It started before I joined so I can't say for certain. Definitely not right at the beginning though, V likes his things to be only his,” she pondered a moment more “better ask Jumin” M.C. nodded and began picking at her meal again. 

M.C.'s mood lightened when they got around to watching the musicals, infected by Jaehee's excitement and the spread of treats laid before them. Who couldn't have an appetite when faced with the sight and smell of popcorn, baked goods, and icecream? Jaehee pulled the DVD from the shelf with reverence, carefully seating the disk inside the player. M.C. couldn't help but chuckle at the extreme care she gave the item. After dimming the lights, she seated herself beside M.C., passing over a blanket to share. The opening number began to blare and they were whisked away into musical theatre. 

M.C. wasn't sure which was more fun to watch; the, actually very good, musical or Jaehee's reactions to it. The other woman was completely engrossed in the scenes in front of her, mouthing the lines and singing along. There was even a moment, during a particularly intense scene, where she clutched a cushion to her chest as if her life depended on it. Her dedication to the musical reached a peak when a splotch of icecream found it's way onto her nose, entirely unnoticed.  
“Jaehee” M.C. laughed, as she saw it. The first try didn't rouse her from the musical trance “Jaehee!” finally she turned to her. “There's icecream on you!”  
“Huh? Where?” she looked down to her shirt. Laughing harder, M.C. reached over and wiped it from her face, resting her head on the others shoulder to try and contain the giggles.  
“All gone!” she assured, finding herself quite comfortable resting against her as she was.  
“Thank you.” Jaehee turned her attention back to the musical.

M.C. couldn't tell how much time passed with them sat like that. She felt herself drifting to sleep before she was jostled awake by Jaehee moving suddenly. With a shocked exhale, her head fell into Jaehee's, luckily icecream free, lap. She peered down at her,  
“Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was surprised” M.C. giggled at her, could you be surprised by a musical you know every line to?  
“That's okay, I'm comfy here too. Your punishment shall be; getting trapped here if I fall asleep!” she poked her tongue out at Jaehee, who laughed,  
“I suppose I can accept that, but I hope you know, that means I'll need to keep you awake.”  
“Noooooo” M.C. protested, wrapping herself in the blanket.  
“We haven't even finished the popcorn.” Jaehee reminded her. M.C. tried to sit up to grab some but found she had trapped herself with the blanket. Jaehee laughed again,  
“Here” she grabbed a handful and held a kernal to her lips. M.C. ate it happily. They both returned their attention to the musical, Jaehee feeding M.C. popcorn as they watched. As far as ways to keep someone awake went, this one was one of the best M.C. could have hoped for.


	21. Jaehee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: sex

The musical ended with a flourish, and Jaehee and M.C. clapped, despite it being a recording, not a live show.   
“That was so fun!” M.C. chimed happily.  
“Yes it is wonderful” Jaehee agreed and fed her another popcorn kernel “And you're still awake”  
“Well you made sure of that” she replied after eating it.  
“Yes well, I would like you to stay awake a little longer”  
“What's up?”  
Jaehee ran a finger gently down M.C.'s bruised cheek to the bite left by Seven and then the hickey from Zen,  
“It looks like everyone but myself and Yoosung have marked you” she noted, M.C shivered under the touch,  
“Yoosung too, though I don't know if he meant to.” she lifted her shirt a little to show the bruising on her ribs.  
“Just me then. I wonder if I may leave one too?”  
“I- uh... What?” M.C. sat up “Hold on. Zen mentioned this too, what is it?” Jaehee considered the question for a moment,  
“A competition of sorts.” Her answer confused M.C. more and she shook her head,  
“That doesn't make it clearer.”  
“Perhaps this will... May I kiss you?” No, that didn't clarify anything, but Jaehee's question knocked M.C.'s own question from her head. Suddenly she was breathless,  
“Yes...”

Jaehee didn't hesitate, moving in to kiss her. It was sweet and gentle enough to have M.C. melting into her. Far too soon she pulled away, leaving M.C. pink and sighing. Her lips almost seemed to tingle in the aftermath.  
“Shall we take this upstairs?” Jaehee offered and M.C. nodded, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm. Taking her hand, she led her to the bedroom. 

For some reason, perhaps because Jaehee had asked before trying anything, M.C. felt emboldened. She practically jumped on the other woman when they reached the bedroom, kissing her neck. If Jaehee was surprised by the action it didn't show, lifting M.C. up by the back of her legs and wrapping them around her waist, leaning against the door-frame. Their mouths locked and M.C. held onto her as if for life. 

They pulled away only when they really had to, gasping for breath. M.C. carefully pulled Jaehee's glasses off and kissed the tip of her nose. The woman made a noise and set her down, grabbing her wrist and towing her towards the bed. M.C. didn't wait to follow, surprised to find her shirt already unbuttoned. When had she done that? She set the glasses on the bedside table. As she sat on the bed, slipping her shirt from her shoulders, Jaehee pulled her own off, over her head. M.C. tugged her closer, feeling the fabric of her bra against her chest. Jaehee wrapped her arms around her, giving butterfly kisses across her shoulder.

The same deft fingers that had opened her shirt returned to unclip her bra. It was impressive really, M.C. hadn't felt anything either time. Though she was surely not as imperceptible as Jaehee, she was not unskilled as she returned the favour, unwilling to let the feeling of boldness fade. After all, she had been taking a bra off daily for years. She left her own covering her chest as she pulled Jaehee's away and kissed across her breasts, sucking a nipple into her mouth carefully. Jaehee made a low sound as she did, scrunching a hand in her hair and holding her close. M.C. traced shapes into her back as she teased the bud with her tongue, thoroughly enjoying the others reaction. 

Jaehee used her free hand to push her bra away and caressed her chest, tenderly squeezing and rolling her nipple between her fingers. M.C. nearly lost her concentration at the action but moved to Jaehee's other side, determined to keep going. Jaehee backed up to kiss her neck,  
“Never thought you'd be a tease.” she breathed, looking up at M.C.. The smile she got in return was a tad too innocent,  
“Am I teasi-ah!” Jaehee cut her response short by rubbing her through her jeans. She kept it up a moment before slipping under her waistband.

M.C. was a mess in no time at all, fumbling to pull her jeans away as she strained into Jaehee's hand. With a short laugh she paused just long enough for M.C. to remove them, as she pulled off her own. Their naked bodies pressed together as Jaehee kissed her again, M.C. moaned into her mouth when her hand made it's way back between her legs. The realisation that Jaehee had successfully distracted her from her own actions pushed her to copy the other woman. They clung to each other's pleasure. 

Jaehee broke away first, nipping at her lips soflty,  
“Sit up” she instructed and M.C. followed gladly. Jaehee lay down and guided her to straddle her face. M.C. paused to look at her, unsure.  
“Trust me” she assured, and M.C. did, she honestly did. Jaehee kissed her thighs, sucking on the soft skin a few moments, adding another hickey to what had become a growing collection. Finally she moved in, and M.C. had to squeeze the headboard to keep from keeling over. Jaehee moaned into her, pleasuring herself and M.C. at the same time. It wasn't long until they both came. M.C. collapsed under the force of it, falling beside Jaehee at an angle. The pair took a few moments to collect themselves before coming together again.

M.C. snuggled herself into Jaehee,  
“Thank you...” she smiled sincerely and Jaehee kissed her forehead, laughing lightly.   
“Not necessary, I enjoyed myself too” It wasn't quite what M.C. had meant, but she no longer had the energy for that conversation. Feeling warm, safe and, for the first time in a while, valued, she couldn't help but drift to sleep.

They were both startled awake mere hours later by a loud siren blaring from their phones. Jaehee was on her feet and in a defensive stance before it registered where the sounds were coming from. They checked their phones. 

EMERGENCY CHAT OPENED

With a concerned glance at each other they joined the chat.  
M.C. has joined the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang has joined the chatroom.  
ZEN has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung has joined the chatroom.  
Jumin Han has joined the chatroom.  
ZEN: What the fuck it's 6am?!  
Yoosung: Seriously...  
Jumin Han: Did you both miss the part that said 'emergency'?  
Jaehee Kang: I didn't even know the chat had such a functionality  
707: Big trouble  
707: For real this time  
M.C.: What's going in?  
707: I missed the deadline.  
707: Emergency meeting  
707: My place  
707: Now!  
Yoosung: Who hired you?!  
707: AngelHead  
ZEN: Shit.  
707: Hurry up   
707: all of you!  
ZEN: On my way  
ZEN has left the chatroom.  
Yoosung: I'm already here... guess I'll get dressed  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.   
Jumin Han: Calling Driver Kim now.  
Jumin Han has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang: M.C. and I will be there ASAP.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
707 has left the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom. 

Jaehee was already hastily getting ready to leave and M.C. followed suit. They got ready as quickly as they could and began driving to Seven's. As they drove they had a moment to breathe, M.C. was finally able to ask,  
“What's AngelHead?”  
“They're a smuggling syndicate. They're large and dangerous. Not a group you want to make enemies of.” That made sense enough, and explained the urgency. They fell into concerned silence for the rest of the drive. 

The door was unlocked when they arrived. Walking inside, they saw Zen and Yoosung sat on the sofa as Seven paced around. He rushed over,  
“You're here! Great. Just Jumin to go” he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. He was even paler than M.C. had last seen him and the bags under his eyes were so dark they looked like bruises.  
“Seven, when did you sleep last?” she asked, horrified, stepping closer to look at him properly.  
“I'm fine” he ushered them inside and shut the door.  
“He slept for about ten minutes yesterday” Yoosung told her, looking at him with the same worry she felt.  
Sighing, she sat between him and Zen. Almost as if automatically, Yoosung's arm found it's way across her shoulders while Zens curled around her waist.  
“Is V not coming?” Yoosung asked, as Jaehee sat herself down beside Zen, he wrapped his spare arm around her too.  
“He's still abroad, but he'll be back by lunch. I called him already and he knows everything” Seven explained. The door opened and Jumin walked in with a short greeting, shutting it behind him. Seven seemed to wipe sweat from his brow in relief as they were all finally present.

Seven stopped his pacing when they were all seated and began to explain the situation. He had been hired by AngelHead to hack into the customs system of a local shipyard and mark a container as pre-approved. That way it was guaranteed to be delivered with no issue. However, due to the interference of Unknown, he had not had time to breach the system and now the container was being held in the shipyard awaiting a search. That search was scheduled Saturday morning and it would absolutely be seized the moment officials looked inside. He didn't know what was in there, but they were smugglers, it was obviously something illegal. As soon as they got the news they had called him and threatened both him and the RFA as a whole. He had managed to negotiate with them; he'd get the container out of the yard before it was searched and deliver it to them. 

The room was silent for a moment.  
“In conclusion. You have around 24 hours, depending on when they start searches tomorrow, to steal this container.” Jaehee summarised shortly. “Or we'll all have bounties on our heads... or worse” Seven nodded,  
“I have a plan but I need all of your help.”  
“Naturally. This is not a one man job,” Jumin concurred “What do you have in mind?”  
“Well, it's the same shipyard Yoosung steals from so we have some insider knowledge for something like this.” Seven began, only to be interrupted by Yoosung,  
“Woah! You're overestimating me here. I only grab some things from confiscated containers. I wouldn't know where to start stealing one whole!” he waved his hand in defence.  
“Yes but you know the layout and guard patterns, that's all we need on the ground” Seven asserted “I can bring their security down but I have to do it on-site since it's closed loop, you and I will sneak in and find the container. Jaehee and Zen will create a distraction elsewhere so we can use the crane to put it on a truck and drive it out of there. Jumin will co-ordinate us from nearby.”

The group considered this basic outline of the plan.   
“And what about M.C.?” Zen asked, letting go of the women and shifting forward in his seat.  
“She'll stay with V.” Seven's answer caused a change in the atmosphere.  
“No.” Yoosung shook his head defiantly “No way.”  
“I'm not sure that's the best idea.” Jaehee agreed with Yoosung, though her approach was more diplomatic.  
“There's no other option. We don't have room for error and she does not have the experience to be anywhere near this.” Seven shot her a look as he countered their arguments and she dropped her gaze to her hands. He hadn't said it, but she knew what he had thought. He didn't trust her. “Besides, she'll be fine.”  
“Are you certain of that?” Jumin asked, eyebrow raised  
“Will she?” Zen spoke in the same moment.  
“Yes! Chill out, he wouldn't do that to us” Seven was clearly exasperated at this point, sitting himself heavily on the coffee table. The group seemed to accept that enough to move on but M.C. could still feel the worry in the room.

Seven pulled up a map of the shipyard and they began detailing the points of their plan. M.C. had nothing to useful to contribute, even if she did she was distracted. What about her going to V's bothered everyone so much? 

She couldn't be more at risk with him than with any of the rest of them... right?


	22. Friendly face

The detailing of the plan took a few hours. With little to no knowledge of how an operation (heist? Could it be called a heist?) like this would play out in the real world, M.C. was unable to follow the conversation. Instead, she toyed with her phone, sandwiched between Zen and Yoosung. Occasionally one of them would squeeze her as they spoke. It wasn't the same possessive crushes she'd felt before, they were more casual, something more akin to reassurance. 

The high pace of the conversation slowed as the final contingencies were considered and then, just like that, the plan was finalised. Jumin made a call, evidently arranging to have some of the things they needed delivered to them.  
“They can't come here,” Seven reminded him  
“Send them to my red room,” Zen suggested “I'll go pick it up and bring it back”  
“I'll come with you!” Yoosung jumped in excitedly “I've started feeling a little stir-crazy in here”  
It was agreed and both men beside her stood up, their warmth vanishing. It was quickly replaced by Jaehee shifting in closer, and M.C. leaned into her.

It didn't take long for Zen and Yoosung to be ready to leave, Zen fitting his helmet carefully on Yoosung's head. Satisfied it was secure, Zen checked the time, thought for a moment, then approached M.C.. Wordlessly, he pushed the fabric of her shirt to the side, exposing the skin of her shoulder. With his choice of less sensitive area coupled with her not being alight with arousal, the sensation of him sucking on her skin was nothing but a little strange.  
“What are you doing?” she asked, wary eyes following his face as he finished, making sure he'd left a mark. He pecked her lips,  
“Insurance” was his only reply and he walked away. Seven huffed,  
“I told you. She'll be fine!”  
“Wait – I wanna!” Yoosung began fumbling with the helmet. Zen's firm hand, pressing it to his head, halted the action,  
“Leave it on. I'm not adjusting it again. Let's go” he dragged the complaining boy from the bunker.  
“Drive safely” Jumin instructed as the door shut behind them.

Seven sat himself across Jumin's lap, stretching himself in much the same way a cat would, M.C. wondered if it was intentional. Jumin, unfazed by the action, gave him a once over,  
“You should sleep. There's nothing else to prepare and you need to be able to concentrate tonight”  
“Yes daddy” Seven propped his glasses up on his forehead, sweeping his matted hair back with it, and leaned back on the armrest heavily.  
“Don't call me that” Jumin might have rolled his eyes as he replied, M.C. wasn't sure, having looked to Jaehee. The other woman tapped on her phone, unconcerned by Seven's antics.  
“Why? Aren't I cute enough?” even in utter exhaustion Seven found the strength to tease, setting sad eyes onto him.  
“Go to bed” Jumin ignored the comment, voice dropping for an even firmer tone.  
“Carry me”  
“No” M.C. swallowed a laugh at the interaction, hiding behind her phone as if she was spying on them. Whining, he stood up and trudged his way to the bedroom, shoulders slumped and head low. With nothing to do for the next few hours, he was finally allowing himself to feel the extent of his fatigue.

Jumin watched Seven leave hawkishly, making sure he actually did as instructed. As the bedroom door closed, he checked the time,  
“V should be here soon” he noted  
“My suitcase!” M.C. blurted in sudden realisation, “It's still at Jaehee's” neither woman had considered it as they left, not expecting the sudden change in arrangements. M.C. berated herself for forgetting the thing again.  
“I'll fetch it” Jaehee stood, adjusting her collar.  
“You won't return in time” Jumin spoke matter of factly.  
“Then I'll drop it off” she retorted, still moving to leave “She needs clothes”  
“No. We need you here to make sure our supplies are correct,” was Jumin's tone naturally authoritative or was it just his habit to speak in such a way? “In any case, I'm sure V has something that will fit her” 

Jaehee spun on her heels, locking eyes with Jumin with a steel that nearly had M.C. cowering in the sofa cushions “That's playing with fire and you know it.” M.C. had expected a snarl but the cool knife edge of Jaehee's tone was so much worse. Jumin held her gaze steadily,  
“It will be fine.”  
“I recall you were concerned too. What changed?”  
“I considered it fully. I trust V.” Jaehee remained silent, awaiting further justification, which she received, “And just look at her” They both did, visually pinning M.C. down. She sat uncomfortably as she was examined.  
“Fine.” Jaehee returned to her seat.

What the hell was that? An argument? Neither had yelled but those two were so controlled that that didn't mean much. Jaehee had stood up to Jumin fiercely and without hesitation. What had concerned her so much about clothes from V to make her react so strongly? Could it be... because they would be Rika's? No that wasn't right. If she could use her apartment then she could wear her clothes, surely. Also, what about her appearance had made Jaehee back down just as suddenly as she flared up? Was M.C... not attractive enough? She stewed in her seat, insulted by her own assumption of their meaning. 

The air hang stagnant as the three ignored each other. Nothing interrupted the buzz of sterile florescent bulbs.

Several long minutes later, the door swung open. V's amiable smile filled the room alongside the natural light let in behind him. He held a box under one arm and greeted them as he stepped in,  
“Jumin, Jaehee, It's been too long” They returned the greeting in turn as he looked to M.C., “And hello M.C.! It's so good to finally meet you in person!” setting the box down, he approached her, hand outstretched. Disarmed by the pleasant demeanour, she reached out for a handshake. Instead, he clasped her hand in both of his warmly, offering a closed eye grin,  
“Nice to meet you too!” she couldn't help but respond with a friendly greeting of her own, even as he held her hand for a second longer than felt natural.  
“What's in the box?” Jumin inquired, pulling V's attention from her.  
“Presents! I thought since I've been away so much, I should get everyone a little something,” he pushed the box closer to the centre of the room “Don't open it until the others get back here, though. I want everyone to get theirs at the same time.” his regard directed to M.C again, but his face fell “Ah, but I'm sorry M.C. I didn't get you anything. I wasn't sure what you'd like.”  
“Oh, that's okay. I wouldn't expect a gift!” even though his air of contentment hadn't evaporated, his expression compelled her to reassure him. His smile returned faster than it had vanished,  
“We should get out of everyone's hair, they need to be as ready as possible” he turned back to Jumin “Thank you for housekeeping, as always. We'll have to catch up when this is over with”

Goodbye's were as fleeting as the greetings and M.C.'s quickly found herself in V's car and well on the way, he was proving himself an excellent conversationalist. Somehow he found all the right questions that led to M.C.'s best stories and followed each of them with an amusing anecdote of his own. By the time they reached his house, M.C. felt as though she was spending time with a childhood friend. 

M.C. jovially accepted the offer of a house tour and fell into step beside him as he guided her around the large space. She wondered how he had managed to give a place as large as Jumin's the cozy feel that enveloped every room. They paused in the light of a window,  
“- and I planted that tree the same week I moved in” he gestured out of the window and M.C. peered out to find it. She wasn't sure, since she could only see him in her peripheral at that moment, but it didn't seem like he had turned his gaze from her face, even as he spoke about the plant. Still speaking, he walked around behind her, stopping as he stood at her other side. The feeling of eyes on her remained. It almost made the fading bruise on her cheek prickle. He tutted once,  
“Damaged.”  
“Huh?” she looked up to him.  
“I said; you must be famished! It's way past lunch” the closed eyed smile was back on his face. He was just worrying over her. She almost laughed at her paranoia.  
“Yeah, you're right. I didn't have breakfast either” she frowned a little. V shook his head, gentle even in disappointment,  
“Well, Seven probably worked everyone up too much to think about eating this morning. Let's fix that”

He led her towards the dining room, still telling stories of the house. M.C. followed his every word. He spun tales in such an engaging way, she was hard pressed to do anything but that. The space held a lot of sentimental value to him and it showed. A story involving Jumin pulled her mind back to the tense conversation from before. What was everyone so worried about? That she'd like him more than them? Probably. V pulled out a chair for her but she didn't take it, instead offering to help him in the kitchen.  
“Oh no, M.C., you're a guest, I insist! Sit”. Endeared by his gentle nature, she sat. 

Lunch was served promptly, even with V's apologies for the simplicity of it.  
“I just didn't want to leave you hungry much longer” he had sighed as he placed the plate and drink in front of her.  
“Don't say sorry! I really appreciate it, and it looks great.” she encouraged him again, tucking in as he stepped around her to fetch his own. Distracted by hunger, it took her a few moments to notice his presence was still behind her. Before she could turn to him, he had moved on. She shrugged it off. Once he returned, easy conversation continued through their meal. 

Lunch break over, they returned to the tour. The pace was slower than before, but that suited M.C. just fine. The early start to the day, alongside the standard afternoon sleepiness (she had once heard it called the after-lunch dip), dragged her feet ever so slightly. In any case, V was now showing her his framed photographs so the leisurely pace was best to properly appreciate his work. 

Each piece was vibrant, not just in colour but composition and the joy of the images seeped into her hazy brain. No wonder his work was famous, each photo magnified the smallest beauties. She found herself wanting to get lost in those pictures, the same way she wanted to get lost in the stars when she walked with Yoosung a few days ago.  
“You like them?” he asked, expression cautiously hopeful.  
“Of course! They're wonderful!” She told him honestly. He beamed at the response,  
“Then I have something more to show you. Follow me”

There was a tugging at M.C.'s mind as V revealed the downwards steps. Hadn't someone told her something about his basement before? She followed him down as she searched for the memory. The stone of the walls was bare here. It was likely a long gone chatroom conversation about storage space or something that had mentioned it. Each step lower seemed to drop the temperature a few degrees. A second door came into view as they reached the bottom. Unlocking it, V turned to her, another smile planted on his lips,  
“You're really going to like this”  
It was then that Rika's previous words to her ran screaming through her head; 'V IS A LIAR!' She began to back away, but it was too late. He had already opened the door and ushered her inside.


	23. Dolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Bodily mutilation, descriptions of gore

The steps were cold enough, but the basement itself was freezing – or maybe that was just the terror circling around her as V's firm hand on her shoulder guided her deeper into the room. There was some foul, sour smell lingering in the air. Why – when her every nerve was screeching to run away – was she simply following him along? M.C. knew the basement was bad news, but she couldn't for the life of her remember why. She racked her brain for any scrap that could help; V's illicit occupation as introduced in that first chat, or what Rika had told her, anything. The memories were strangely distant, too far away to grasp. Her trembling focus wanted to stay on the current moment. 

The pastel pink wallpaper drew her eye first, covering the whole back wall and part way across the side walls. Blue carpet, also pastel, terminated along the same line as the wallpaper. There was nothing softening the change between concrete basement and this more decorated section. It was a cutaway, similar to how you only see half the room in a... doll house. The thought pulled her eyes wide and she remembered then; The Doll Maker. 

Her chest tightened and vision began to blur at the edges but she was still able to examine the doll's room. A maple wood table with five chairs. A door at the back. Leading to where? The hand left her shoulder and V continued walking without her. Four beds, each with a wardrobe and side table.  
“Did you miss me, ladies?” V called merrily, wearing the same smile he had used to greet M.C.. The beds were all occupied! Her vision skipped over each in turn, stomach churning, unwilling to settle on the horror. Not all, one of the beds was empty. 

Chains clinked as V sat up one of the girls. She moved in a strange, half limp half stiff way. The stark metal, bolted to the walls, was a scar on the cute décor. M.C. hugged herself, rooted to the spot at the sight of the girls. It was just as Rika described; circular hooks extended from their limbs where elbows and knees should have been. Fabric cups covered the base of each hook, hiding what M.C. could only assume was the gruesome, hacked off, ends of their limbs. Were the hooks drilled into their bones? V ran his fingers through the woman's blonde hair, sighing as they got caught,  
“I wish Jumin would brush your hair when I go away”

The woman made no response. M.C. had to bite her tongue to hold the scream that rose from knowing that she couldn't make a response even if she wanted to. Tasting blood, she forced herself to ease her jaw. Some dark part of her noted the irony of nearly biting your own tongue off at the knowledge the person you're looking at lost theirs already. The room around her began to spin slowly. 

M.C. cursed Rika for telling her that part. If she hadn't told her, she'd never have known. She could never bring herself to get close enough to these things to find out on her own. Things? Dammit, M.C. those are people! Another cruel thought to those suffering more than her. 

V propped up the woman on some pillows and moved to the wardrobe. Opening it, he leafed through some of the garments.  
“Our new friend here is going to need something to wear tomorrow. You don't mind sharing, do you?” V continued to talk to himself as the woman stared off into the distance.

What? No. NO! M.C. begged her body to listen to her, to let her voice her objection. She didn't want a doll's clothes, what if V started to think of her as a doll? Then she'd end up like one of those three. Was that what Jaehee had meant? Why she was so desperate to bring M.C. her suitcase? But avoiding the association was useless if V already planned to turn her into one... She flexed her fingers, since they seemed to be obeying her still, trying to get a hold on herself. Seven and Jumin said she'd be fine. They knew V best, she had to trust their judgement and calm down. 

V pulled a dress from the wardrobe and looked to the woman,  
“Do you think this one will suit her?” he studied her expression “What's wrong?” following her line of sight, his eyes landed on something behind M.C., to her left. He frowned a little, leaning a cheek into his hand,  
“Ah. I forgot to clean up before I went away. So sorry! I'll take care of it in a moment.” he clasped his hands together at his chest, merry smile returning once again “Then I'll clean you ladies up and we'll have a tea party!” M.C. was able to turn her head to look in the same direction as them. She immediately wished she hadn't. 

A gurney was pushed up against the corner. Beside it was a tray table, it held some scalpels, a saw and a drill. Blood, now sickly brown and congealed with age, spattered the area, covering the tools and dripping down the gurney to pool on the floor. The nearby walls hadn't escaped the gruesome spray, grey concrete darkened by it, almost to the ceiling. It was as if someone had taken an open bucket of paint and launched it at the setup. Spots of black appeared in her vision and began to grow, as if her mind was trying to censor the scene before her. It was too late, she had already spotted the worst part. Four limbs scattered the floor, as if casually discarded. Two arms and legs, messily cleaved away and presumably as old as the blood. Their sawn ends fetid with rot, the rest pale and shrivelled. 

All at once, just like when she watched Zen's livestream, she regained control of her body. Whipping around, she set her sights on sprinting to the exit. She didn't even make the first step. Her leg buckled under her and she crumpled. The black had filled her mind, leaving her unconscious before she had even hit the ground. 

Meanwhile, Zen and Yoosung had returned from their fetch quest. Yoosung skipped over to the sofa happily, excitement for the nights plan creeping in,  
“Someone's in a good mood” Jaehee noted, watching him  
“Yeah! It's been too long since we all worked on a plan together.” he hummed, sitting himself on the armrest  
“Please don't forget the importance of what we're doing” Jumin sighed  
“Don't worry! I won't let you down!” Yoosung assured him, spotting the box “What's that?”  
“V brought presents for us” Jumin answered, not sparing it a glance.  
“Presents?” Yoosung reached for the box only to be stopped by Jaehee,  
“He said to wait for everyone to be here before we open it”  
“Everyone is here” he retorted, picking it up  
“Seven is asleep” she reminded him  
“Asleep doesn't mean not here” Yoosung set the box on the table “It's pretty light”  
Jumin shook his head “We can open it later”  
“Please?” Yoosung looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. 

Yoosung let out a small yelp as he was suddenly lifted from behind. Zen hoisted him over his shoulder easily, turning the smaller man so he could face him,  
“Give it a rest”  
“Don't you wanna know what's in there?” he twisted in an attempt to escape  
“Of course, but it can wait”  
“Come on! You wouldn't let me kiss M.C. goodbye, now you're gonna make me sit with a present staring at me?” The pleading eyes turned on Zen, who promptly looked away. Recognising the easier target, Yoosung locked on. 

Yoosung placed a hand on Zen's chest to lift his face closer to the red-eyed man,  
“I just wanna peak. You'll let me won't you, Zen?” He kissed his cheek softly, looking at him with half-lidded eyes “Please? I'll owe you”. With a groan, Zen set him down,  
“Can we just let him? He won't shut up about it until we do” Yoosung peaked around Zen at the other two, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he awaited the response.  
“I suppose we could wake up Seven” Jaehee considered, diplomatic as always.  
“No. He'll need to be as rested as possible before tonight.” Jumin spoke firmly  
“Yeah let's not, he really hasn't slept well this week...” Despite it reducing the chance of getting what he wanted, Yoosung had to agree with Jumin. “Come on, Seven won't mind, and we have nothing better to do right now!”  
“I suggest we all try and sleep actually. Since this will be a late one” Jumin continued to speak practically.  
“I won't be able to sleep without knowing what's in there!” Yoosung protested. Jumin took a moment, looking from Yoosung to the box carefully,  
“Fine.”

Yoosung whooped and pounced on the box, pulling it open quickly. Without looking he reached in and grabbed the first thing his hand touched. He looked at the prize cheerily before his breath caught. Upending the box revealed four more nearly identical objects. Someone gasped. Five dolls, all a mini M.C.. The only difference was the colour of the dress each one wore; red, green, purple, white and yellow. Nothing in the room moved as the group stared at the gifts in horror. 

Yoosung was the first to break from the trance, scrambling for his phone and dialling for M.C. frantically. Everyone held their breath as they listened to it ring... and ring... and ring...  
“I'm going to get her.” Yoosung declared, running for the door.  
“Wait!” Jumin ordered, causing him to skid to a stop “I'll call V first, this doesn't mean anything.”  
“Doesn't mean anything?! I think it's pretty clear Jumin” Zen snapped, turning to follow Yoosung.  
“Five minutes. Give me five minutes. If I can't get an explanation from him you can go.” Jumin put his foot down.  
“If you two go running in there for no reason you might make him angry” Jaehee added.  
“He could have already started! There's no time to wait!” Even as he protested, Yoosung was following the command. “I can't believe him! I'll kill him! How could he do this!?”  
“Five minutes.” Jumin asserted over Yoosung's ranting, stepping out of the room to avoid the noise.

V picked up quickly, a good sign.  
“Hello Jumin, is everything alright?”  
“Quite fine.” He told him “It's just Yoosung wanted to talk to M.C. and she's not picking up the phone, could you put her on?”  
“Ah, afraid not. She's taking a nap.” Anyone else would have missed the lie, but Jumin had grown up with V, he'd been hearing him lie since they were children. “I can get her to call once she wakes up?”  
“Please do. I'll let him know” Jumin kept his voice level  
“Have you opened the presents yet? Did you all like them?” V asked cheerily  
“They certainly had an effect” Hiding the truth without lying was a skill Jumin was grateful he possessed.  
V made a small sound of contentment “Good! Well, I'll see you soon.”  
“Yes, goodbye.” he hung up.

Jumin considered the conversation for a moment. He would tell the others it was fine, he had intended to do that before he even made the call. Pissing of Angelhead was too dangerous to allow anything to distract the RFA from tonights plan. He knew his friends routine. When V got back from a trip he'd spend some time caring for his current dolls before converting any new ones. He also never did a full conversion in a single go any more. Too many had died from blood loss. If Jumin went to collect her as soon as they were done with the plan, she would still be mostly intact, maybe even fully intact if he was lucky. 

He didn't want to believe V would do it, but like Zen said, those dolls were a pretty clear message.

He returned to the living room,  
“She's fine. Just napping.”  
“And you're sure he didn't lie?” Zen asked, arms crossed  
“Yes. He always tells me when he has a new doll.” The others knew that, but they needed Jumin to state it before they relaxed. It was a shame that it was no longer true.  
“So why did he give us these dolls?” Yoosung asked, settling back into the sofa with relief.  
“To commemorate the newest member of the RFA.”  
“Months late?” Of course Jaehee would pick up on that detail. Jumin shrugged,  
“It takes a while for custom items like this to be made, and I imagine V put them through some iterations to get them perfect." The reasoning was good enough for the others to believe. 

Yoosung picking up the one in the green dress, looking at it closer,  
“They are super cute!” he checked the gift-tag on the arm “And this one's for me”  
Zen stretched his shoulders back “Man, all that stress. Suddenly I think Jumin had the right idea with that nap”  
Everyone had to agree with that.


	24. Heist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence and murder

Lights flickered around Jumin as he sat in the back of the blacked-out van, specially modified by Seven for occasions such as this. He watched the screen displaying a map of the docks as two blips, one green and one red skirted along the outer perimeter together; Seven and Yoosung getting into their first position. He scanned over the screen, finding the yellow and white lights of Jaehee and Zen respectively, already waiting side by side in place. His own purple dot was a safe distance away. 

He checked the status screen;  
GPS: Online  
Friendly Communications: Online  
Hostile internal Communications: Not connected  
Hostile external Communications: Online  
Surveillance: Not connected  
Alarms: Not connected 

As Seven had said, all the docks security systems were closed loop. The GPS data from the guards cellphones was displayed as grey marks on the map. It would be all they had to go on until Seven got into their network. It was no guarantee currently, phones could be off, or left in lockers, or any number of things. For the time being, the RFA would have only their eyes and ears as a warning. He could shut off the external communications now, but if it was noticed, an alert would be put out, so it must stay online until the last minute. Adjusting his earpiece, making sure the microphone was situated correctly, he began,  
“Initial positions confirmed. No nearby hostiles from current data. Team one, confirm?”  
“None in sight” Jaehee's voice came through the earpiece  
“Team two, confirm?”  
“We're clear” Yoosung replied. Jumin rested his chin on his hands, letting a smile curl the corner of his lip as the lights flashed over his features,  
“Stay sharp. Let's begin.”

Yoosung pulled the string of his black hoodie tighter, fumbling slightly in his gloves, and pulled the top of his facemask securely over his nose, ensuring only his eyes were visible. He saw Seven do the same, giving a final check for guards before silently approaching the fence and wiggling himself under the loose section. The quiet scuffling behind him as he got to his feet told him Seven was following suit. As the redhead stood, Yoosung pointed out the nearest cameras. Even with the disguise, Yoosung could see his grin scrunching his eyes. He felt his own smile spread over his face at the others excitement infected him, even as he led him towards the building he usually avoided like the plague. They took an awkward route, three lefts frequently chosen over a right, as they avoided the sweeping eyes of the cameras. More than once, they had to duck into the long shadows, cast despite floodlights, at the sound of approaching footsteps. The lack of warning from Jumin proved that many guards did not carry their cellphones.

Jumin watched intently as the young pairs lights approached the largest cluster of grey dots, the security office, finger hovering over a button. If he were to press it, one of Seven's devices would immediately send out a signal that blocks any and all communications in the area, including their own. It was a Hail Mary of sorts, should they get caught it would prevent reinforcements, and police, from being called, and give them better chance to escape. He trusted them not to make a mistake that would require him to press it and ruin the plan, but he would be ready anyway. 

Seven pulled a laptop from his bag as he and Yoosung crouched at the back of the building. Trusting Yoosungs watch completely, he focussed on the panel in front of him. Unscrewing each corner of the cover, he pulled it off and carefully set it down, making as minimal noise as possible. Expertly selecting the correct wire, he clicked a small device to it, sharp metal teeth biting into plastic. The screen of his laptop lit up as the device established a connection and he began typing with unmatched speed, even as he was slowed by the gloves.

Jumin's status screen flashed, alerting him to a change;  
GPS: Online  
Friendly Communications: Online  
Hostile internal Communications: Connecting...  
Hostile external Communications: Online  
Surveillance: Connecting...  
Alarms: Connecting...

Seven breathed a laugh to himself, if only the customs system had been this easy to get into, he wouldn't be here at all. Although, a government system and a private security companys system were very different creatures. Additionally, closed loop systems tended to have less protection, since you needed a physical connection to do anything with them. Though he knew it was, he waited for Jumin to verify the the hack was successful, replacing the panel.

All at once, the unused screens in the van came to life, brightening the dimly lit space with displays of the docks surveillance feeds. His earpiece crackled to life with the audio of the guards communications and he silenced it for the time being, needing to hear his companions more than them. The map screen filled with black spots to replace the grey as Seven's AI sifted through each camera and returned the exact location of every non-RFA human on the premises. Some spots remained grey, where the person dropped from camera view and the program had to predict their location, but it had never been wrong before. The status panel now read;  
GPS: Online  
Friendly Communications: Online  
Hostile internal Communications: Online  
Hostile external Communications: Online  
Surveillance: Online  
Alarms: Online  
A robotic voice rang out in the van,  
“Meow~ Cat Burglar Scramble System ready to be deployed!” he pressed the deploy button and the machine responded with a purr,  
“System deploying!” The status panel changed once more;  
GPS: Online  
Friendly Communications: Online  
Hostile internal Communications: Online  
Hostile external Communications: Online  
Surveillance: Scrambled  
Alarms: Offline  
“We're ready to go on phase two” Jumin told the others. Seven's Scramble System was a very clever program, whenever an RFA member approached the line of site of a camera, it would loop the last seven seconds of feed so the area appeared empty. No need to erase tapes if they never recorded you.

Seven put his laptop away and he and Yoosung began the trip to the holding dock, now able to take a more direct route without fear of the cameras. They still needed to be wary of guards but could mostly count on warnings from Jumin from now on. 

Zen and Jaehee were finally able to move into the premises, without Yoosung's knowledge of the camera locations, it had been too dangerous to do so until now. They took a different approach to masking their identities than the 'teenage delinquent' route Seven and Yoosung used. Zen used the all black outfit, gloves included, with total face cover from his red room. Jaehee also wore a total face cover and gloves but her outfit was the unremarkable business suit (with trousers) she always wore when working a less then legal job. Zen boosted Jaehee up to reach the top of the fence. She swung a leg over, and got her balance, observing what she could of this less-lit part of the compound. With a grunt he launched his bag over. It landed with a louder thud than either of the two liked and the pair froze, holding their breath. When no alerted guards came running, they continued. Leaning down, Jaehee offered her hand to the other. Jumping, Zen caught it, and she hauled him up far enough to grab the top of the fence and climb over. 

They dropped down in unison, Zen scooping his bag and hefting the strap onto his shoulder again. They head towards their goal.  
“Team one, on your West” Jumin's voice through their earpieces alerted them to an approaching guard and they ducked away, breathing shallowly until the threat passed. Once they were sure they were clear, they kept on their way, silhouetted in the moonlight. Zen gestured to a building with large windows. Jaehee nodded, it was the office block, about as far away from the other two as they could be, their perfect target.  
“We've found everything we need, and are in position.” Seven communicated.

Jumin checked the map screen, Seven was with the crane and Yoosung must be with the nearest truck to the container. Jaehee and Zen were also approaching their target.  
“Have you gained access to the vehicle?” another unnecessary precaution, but Jumin preferred being sure over a hiccup in the plan.  
“Hot-wired and ready to go” Yoosung replied, obvious enjoyment in his voice.  
“We're ready for the ruckus!” Seven added  
“Alright. Team one, whenever you're ready.” Jumin gave the go-ahead, turning the audio from the guards back on.

Zen set his bag down and pulled it open, pleased to be rid of its burden. Opening it revealed the bricks he'd been forced to lug around. He picked one up, feeling its weight, and waited for Jaehee to select a brick of her own. They glanced at each other and Zen drew his arm back, catapulting the brick into the middle of a window and letting out a short laugh as it arced through the air. The window screamed, shattered glass twinkling like stars in the dull light as it fell to the ground. Jaehee let her own brick fly as Zen stooped to grab another.  
“Team one, three hostiles. East” Another warning from Jumin.

Zen turned, lobbing his brick towards the attackers. It collided with a knee, drawing a pained yell from the owner as he fell to the ground. The other two continued their advance, already past the point of giving warnings. One reached Zen, hand heading to the tazer at his belt, he was rewarded with a punch in the gut, dropping the thing just as he had grabbed it. The guard stumbled backwards but surged back at him seconds later, landing a punch in the centre of Zen's face. Zen barely flinched, seizing him by the arms and grappling him to the floor.  
“Violent break in by the offices, send reinforcements!” the guard with the broken knee called into his walkie-talkie, scooting himself into cover. Perfect, the more guards they drew in the better. 

The guard that had rounded on Jaehee had been a little smarter than his colleague, pulling out his taser before he was in his opponents reach. Not that it mattered much, with a precise upwards kick from Jaehee it was sent flying away, another kick while he was distracted took his legs out from under him. Her knees thudded into his back, pinning him to the ground. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his head up, slamming it back into the concrete floor until he went limp.  
“Team one, four more inbound. West.” Jumin informed them. 

Jaehee drew her pistol, aiming in the direction she had been told as Zen got a pin on his assailant. He seized a brick and smacked it down onto his head, the meaty crunch and spray of blood assuring him the guard would never get up again. Zen jumped up, clutching his own pistol and pointing it the same way. The moment they heard the oncoming footsteps they fired blindly. A cry told them that someone had hit the mark. The measured steps became a frantic scramble as the guards looked for safety.

Jumin watched the jumble of lights, hearing the gunfire even from where he sat.  
“Suspects are armed! Men down! Call police and secure the perimeter” The fearful voice of someone not paid enough for this came through his earpiece.  
“No, I don't think so” Jumin muttered to himself, and pressed another button. The status screen updated;  
GPS: Online  
Friendly Communications: Online  
Hostile internal Communications: Offline  
Hostile external Communications: Offline  
Surveillance: Scrambled  
Alarms: Offline  
He watched as every black dot began moving to the outer edges of the dock, away from the green and red.  
“Team two you're safe to start” he told them

Seven's hands had been waiting on the crane controls, without hesitation he swung it around and descended the claw on their crate. He could've giggled. feeling as though he was playing a life size version of that prize-grabbing arcade game. It lifted into the air easily as Yoosung pulled the truck up behind it. Seven set it in place, disengaged the claw and rapidly descended from the booth. Yoosung was already tying it down when he reached him. With the both of them working, the crate was swiftly secured and Seven jumped into the drivers seat, Yoosung barely had time to close the passenger door before he accelerated.  
“We've got it, heading out” he told the others.

Seven manoeuvred the truck to the straight road to the gate and floored it,  
“Brace yourself!” he called, laughing, giving Yoosung just enough time to do so before they slammed into the gate. Even braced, Yoosung collided with the back of his seat with enough power the punch the air from his lungs. Metal screeched as it bent and tore, flung to the side by the sheer force of the truck. Yoosung leaned to the side, gasping in place as they sped from the docks.  
“Team two you have no tail." Jumin informed them. "Team one, withdraw.”

Zen and Jaehee took off running, heading back to their entry point. Any pursuers were easily dissuaded by a gun shot. They scaled the fence they same way they had done before and made their way back to their hidden car. 

Jumin made sure everyone's blips had left the compound, with no followers, before shutting down the systems and stepping out of the back of the van. Calmly, he walked around to the drivers door. A voice hailed him as he grasped the handle,  
“Excuse me sir, do you know where th-” The bullet entered his chest before the sentence left his mouth. Opening the door, Jumin dropped the gun onto the passenger seat and strapped himself in, driving around the corpse before leaving the docks behind him.

With the plan a success, the RFA disappeared into the night.


	25. Fear

Jumin accelerated the sports car down the long stretch of road, urging the damn thing to just drive faster already. He'd had half a mind to just take the truck and not waste time switching vehicles, but it was too much of a risk to drive a crime accessory around, there was no choice but to stash it before continuing in the car he now drove. Hopefully, the others would be too busy wrapping up their final tasks of the plan to notice he'd run off like this. He'd done his part anyway. 

Finally, he skidded the car to a halt outside of V's house. Not bothering to shut the car off, he flew from the seat and knocked on the door insistently. With nothing to do for a few moments, he took a glancing check of the house. No lights were on. V was asleep. Was he too late? He knocked again, harder this time and mercifully a light flicked on. More agonising seconds past before Vs sleepy face peeked around the door,  
“Jumin? Why are you here so late?”  
“Where's M.C.?” Jumin spared no pleasantries, pushing past the other man into his house.  
“Asleep in the guest room” V shut the door and followed behind him. Jumin relaxed slightly at that, the dolls rarely slept upstairs,  
“So she's fine then?” He didn't slow his movements, reaching the guest bedroom and throwing the door open.

At the slam of the door, M.C. started awake, jolting up into a sitting position, heart racing as her eyes immediately fell on the pair in the doorway. V broke the silence,  
“Well... she had an incident in the basement, but other than that she's fine.” Jumin rounded on him,  
“What kind of incident?” even as measured as he kept his voice, V felt the anger dripping from it. He understood.  
“Jumin. I would _never_. Not to a loyal RFA member.” V seemed genuinely horrified at the assumption and Jumin inspected the woman. Everything seemed as it should. Two arms by her sides, lumps under the blanket that were more than likely legs and tongue visible as she gaped at them. 

Though V's words calmed Jumin, they set M.C. on edge. The word ' loyal' swirled around her head. She was an RFA member sure, but not a loyal one. She proved as much when she ran off with Saeran. Not that these two knew about that. But if they ever found out... she'd be the next doll house candidate, she was sure of it.  
“I'm sorry we woke you, M.C..” V waved his apologies at her “Go back to sleep, Jumin and I are just going to have a chat.” With that he shut the door and led his unexpected guest to the sitting room.

As the pair sat, Jumin began to feel the exhaustion from the day, no longer fuelled by stress.  
“So, what made you think that?” V asked, he didn't seem angry or insulted, just mystified.  
“It wasn't just me.” Jumin pinched the bridge of his nose “We were all worried. Because of the gifts”  
V blinked at him in surprise before rubbing the back of his neck bashfully “I didn't consider the implication, I'm sorry. They were on sale at a little knick-knack shop, I thought they looked just like her so I couldn't pass it up.”  
Jumin began to feel a little ridiculous, barging in here the way he had over nothing. “And what was that incident in the basement you mentioned?”  
“That mess I left in the corner. She saw it and fainted”  
“...which is why you lied when you said she was taking a nap.” Jumin put the pieces together.  
V looked a little guilty “You caught that? Yes, I did. I didn't want anyone to be worried before tonights plan.” There was a few seconds of silence between them.

Then Jumin snickered.

Before they knew it, they were both laughing. The absurdity of their series of missteps revealed to them both.  
“Jihyun, I am sorry” Jumin managed between chuckles  
“No, I am!” V protested, they let their laughter ride its course. Their phones chimed out a new chatroom simultaneously.

Jumin Han has entered the chatroom.  
V has entered the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang: V, you're here. Hello.  
V: Hello everyone  
V: I trust the plan went off without a hitch?  
707: You know it!  
ZEN: I'd say we're all back at Seven's  
ZEN: But that's not true  
Yoosung: Yeah, Jumin. Where are you?

V looked up,  
“I thought they were worried too.”  
“They were, but I told them everything was okay. I couldn't have them distracted.” Jumin confessed “Don't tell them”

Jumin Han: I went home.  
707: You're not going to celebrate with us?  
Jumin Han: I'm too tired.  
ZEN: Weren't you the one who suggested we rest properly earlier?  
Jumin Han: That is what I'm trying to do.  
ZEN: :angryemoji:  
ZEN: You know what I meant.  
Jaehee Kang: Didn't you nap too, Mr Han?  
Jumin Han: Evidently not long enough.  
Yoosung: We can celebrate another time!  
707: Party! Party!  
707: :cheeringemoji:  
V: I wanted to apologise to everyone  
V: It seems I caused you all some stress with my gift  
V: It wasn't my intent. I'm sorry.  
Yoosung: You could've put in a note or something  
Yoosung: What else were we supposed to think?  
Jaehee Kang: We shouldn't have jumped to conclusions  
707: I think they're cute!  
Jumin Han: I'm going to leave now.  
Jumin Han: Good work tonight, everyone  
Jaehee Kang: Good night.  
Yoosung: Have a good rest!  
707: See you soon!  
Jumin Han has left the chatroom.  
V: I should go too, I was in bed until a little while ago  
707: You got up just to check on us?  
707: so sweet!  
Jaehee Kang: It was good to hear from you  
Yoosung: Sleep well  
ZEN: Talk to you soon (I hope)  
V: Good night!  
V has left the chatroom.

Jumin stood,  
“I'll let you get back to bed. Though, may I take M.C. with me?”  
“Of course. You're happy to see yourself out?” V rubbed his eyes, already making his way back to bed. Jumin nodded and returned to the guest bedroom, shaking M.C. awake. Groggily, she followed his instruction to gather her things. No protest leaving her lips for the untimely escape from the house of horrors. Once she was ready, he led her to the car and took them home. 

Neither spoke a word through the journey, M.C.s head nodding as she fought sleep while they drove. The quiet was only interrupted by a guard outside Jumins door, looking at the woman walking around in nothing but pyjamas with curiosity,  
“Mr Han? What's going on?”  
“Shut up.” he ordered irritably, opening his door and letting M.C. inside. Tired as she was, she just let herself flop into the first bed she saw, drifting back to sleep immediately.

She awoke to the bed jostling, annoyance flaring at being woken for the third time that night. The annoyance quickly morphed into cold dread as her tired mind remembered the only person who could be climbing into bed with her at this moment. Not again! Would he leave her alone if she pretended she was still asleep? It hadn't stopped Yoosung...

Her skin crawled as a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her in, flush against him. His face found the crook of her neck and she braced for a bite, previously wounds flashing with pain as if in solidarity. However, she found only stillness as he breathed evenly against her. She willed herself to calm down. He wasn't doing anything.  
“What's wrong?” he asked suddenly, unmoving. Her body reacted to the words as if an electric shock ran from her head to her feet, yet she made no reply. “Your heart rate is as fast as a rabbits. I know you're awake and I know something's wrong.”  
“Is it? W-well you woke me up climbing into the bed and... ah... uhm...” she trailed off, not wanting to bring up the previous incident involving Jumin and a bed. He sighed heavily,  
“I just want to sleep, M.C.”  
“Right! Me too! Good night!” she squeaked, trying to take the most subtle deep breaths possible. Jumin seemed to fall asleep not long after, giving M.C. space to let her panic ebb away. 

She really needed to get a hold on herself. Her near constant state of panic this past week was rendering her useless to react intelligently to the madness being thrown at her. On top of that it was likely shortening her lifespan. She never considered herself the type to faint but well... look what happened that day. Maybe mindfulness techniques could help. Not that she could do anything now, firmly held in Jumins arms as she was. It could wait until the morning. As she calmed, sleep took over and she hoped this time it wouldn't be interrupted.


	26. Jumin, again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Bodily mutilation, slight S&M style sex

M.C. woke up feeling far too hot. She went to throw off the blanket but was instantly made aware that her arms wouldn't move. Her legs could shift slightly, but something was restraining them too. Her eyes flew open and were met with the mottled grey of a concrete ceiling. She swept her gaze to across the whole room, thankful to find her head could move at least. Nothing seemed to pull into full focus, a soft blur in her vision that made everything appear fuzzy and unreal. 

That thankfulness was strangled by horror as her eyes landed on the dollroom. This wasn't right – she had left V's house! Right? Was that a dream? Why was it suddenly so hot in here compared to earlier? Why couldn't she move?

No.

No. She couldn't be strapped to the gurney. No. PLEASE NO. A scream wrenched from her throat but she heard nothing. He had already started! Shaking her tears away she looked around desperately for something, anything, that she could use to free herself. She flinched as her eyes met the gaze of the blonde doll, propped on a chair beside her. How had she missed her before? Pleadingly she looked at her, knowing it was futile. They couldn't help each other. 

The smears of blood on the walls seemed a much more vivid red than they had been before. As if it was fresh once again. Hers? The metal surface below her was sticky. She flexed her fingers and toes, feeling each one wiggle in turn. Not hers... not yet. 

Footsteps approached and blue hair appeared in her view. She squirmed, overwrought with panic at the sight of him.  
“How is everyone?” he smiled warmly, voice echoing in a strange, far away manner “Are we all nice and comfortable?” he paused as though listening to a response “Great! That's great” he stepped out of her vision and she heard rustling to her side. Something possessed her to look over, even as her gut told her it was a bad idea. 

He was hugging something, clutching it close affectionately, cooing as he did so,  
“Oh and how I missed you my darling. You were jealous you couldn't join the dollhouse, right? That's why you ran away?” Time seemed to be moving wrong or something, there hadn't been anything there when she looked a moment ago. V's voice became soothing,  
“Well it's alright now. You don't have to be jealous anymore” He rocked whatever he was holding and M.C. screamed silently again as the distressed green eyes of Rika peered around him. She had been fully doll-ified, her arms seamlessly transitioning from flesh to the metal of the hooks. How was that possible?

V placed her down gently and turned to M.C. a blood spatter had appear across his face. From where?  
“And we have a brand new friend joining us too!” her skin crawled as he cupped her face “Shall we get rid of these spare parts?” His smile grew wider than naturally possible as he lifted the scalpel up and she prayed to every cosmic force in the universe to help her. 

The scalpel came down onto her arm with a painful pinch, the sensation seemed to rock through her whole body as she jolted awake. Awake? Awake! She was still in Jumins bed, overheating and sweaty as he had wrapped himself around her in sleep, trapping her arms and legs. Frowning, he was pinching her arm. He let go the moment he saw she had awoken,  
“Having a nightmare?” he asked. Puffing out a breath, she nodded,  
“I think because I'm too hot.” The inconsistencies of the dream seemed obvious now. Most notably the silent screams, even without a tongue you can make noise, just not coherant speech. Jumin untangled himself from her and checked the time.  
“Well it's a good time to get up.” he noted “Would you like breakfast?”

As he moved to stand, M.C. found herself grabbing on to the back of his shirt. The bad dream had forced her to process just how harrowing she found what she had seen the day before. She needed comfort.  
“Can we please... stay in bed a little longer?” she asked meekly, tugging him back. Without hesitation he rolled back to face her and she snuggled her way into his chest, kicking the blanket away.  
“Are you going to tell me what's wrong, then?” he wrapped an arm around her.  
“...Yesterday was really scary” she admitted, slightly muffled in the fabric.  
“V's tastes can be shocking” he tucked her hair behind her ear “And I suppose it has been a turbulent week for you.”

His words and comforting touch made M.C. feel strange, some emotion she couldn't name. It was like everything she had experienced over the past few days was being acknowledged as real, and she was right in finding them upsetting. It was like he had lifted the weight of it all from her shoulders. He had validated her.  
“Thank you,” she whispered, face still pressed to his chest.  
“Pardon?” he tilted her chin up, looking at her  
“Thank you,” She repeated. Confusion crossed his typically composed features,  
“For what exactly?”  
“For coming to get me and for staying with me right now-” her words fell from her mouth, unfiltered “-and for not making me feel ridiculous for how I'm feeling”  
Jumin seemed to fight with himself for a moment, before finally saying “In truth, I was worried about you last night.”

That pulled her up short. He was worried about her? She thought over his previous actions with the growing realisation that he had almost entirely acted in her best interest. Aside from when he visited her at Rikas apartment, but they had established that was a misunderstanding. Perhaps she could fix that. She was kissing him before the thought even completed. 

There was a moment of surprise from him before he pulled her in closer and returned the kiss. M.C.s hands acted on their own, unbuttoning his shirt to feel the smooth skin of his muscular chest underneath. Grabbing her hips, he flipped her onto her back, moving so as to not break the kiss. Making sure his full weight wasn't on her, he used his own body to press her to the bed, pulling her arms above her head and holding her wrists loosely in one hand. She got the feeling he was allowing her to escape the grip if she wanted to. She didn't want to. 

He moved the kiss from her lips to her neck and she let out a small sound of approval. The remnants of what must be expensive aftershave from the day before filled her nose. Suddenly, she was all too aware of just how sweaty she had been when she woke up, and how terrible she must smell.  
“Wait! Hold on!” she gasped, grateful as he paused right away. “I stink. Let me shower first” He considered her for a moment, still pinned under him. Kissing her again, he lifted himself to slip his free hand between them. His tongue made its way into her mouth as he fingers found her core and she moaned into his mouth. 

He toyed with her there until she was a whimpering wanton mess under him. Then he was gone. M.C. opened her eyes with a whine to find him observing her from the side of the bed.  
“I'll be back in a few minutes.” he told her, standing up “And you better keep your hands above the belt while I'm gone.” without further explanation, he disappeared from the room. 

M.C. squeezed her thighs together, determined to follow his instruction despite how badly part of her wanted to ignore it. Fidgeting on the bed, rolling this way and that, seemed to be the best way to distract herself as she was left with nothing to help with the state she was in. Not knowing what Jumin was doing added some thrill to the situation. Was he just teasing her, or setting something up?

After an eternity, the door he had used opened again, and he looked into the room, beckoning her over. She was up swiftly, making her way over to him. The room behind the door was revealed as a lavish bathroom, bubble-bath already filled. Jumin picked her up easily, setting her on the edge of the tub.  
“Were you a good girl?” He asked, kissing her hand.  
“Yes,” she breathed, watching him with wide eyes as he took her fingers into his mouth and sucked on them briefly.  
“Well done,” he praised, almost purring, releasing her hand to unbutton her pyjama shirt. Once he had her naked, her lifted her again to lay her in the bath, following her in. 

He enveloped her much like the warmth of the bath had,  
“Now... where were we?” he kissed her again passionately and she felt she might just melt. She sat back, straddling his waist,  
“May I? Please?” He nodded and she raised herself up, holding onto his shoulders for support. With a nod, he took a hip in one hand and himself in the other, guiding her down onto him. Biting her lip, she set a pace over him, stuttering out a cry as his fingers found her again. The hand on her hip kept her going and she quickly found her end, gripping him tightly as she shuddered. 

She panted as he shifted her off him, laying on his chest languidly. A hand roamed her body, gentle touches all over her, chest and bum getting special attention. Looking up to his scrunched faced, she realised he was finishing himself off with his other hand.  
“I can-” she begun but he shook his head, nipping her lips and hugging her into him again. Watching him, she trailed kissed up his chest to his neck, relishing the groan it caused. Soon, he tremored and held her tight, nuzzling his face into her hair. The pair lay for a while in that position, warm, relaxed, and surrounded by bubbles and each other.

Later, washed and breakfast eaten, they sat on the sofa together, M.C. tucked under Jumins arm as he read a book. As she wasted time on her phone, a text came through. It was from Saeran, still using the Unknown moniker. 'Are you okay?' After a glance at Jumin, making sure he didn't see her screen, she sent her response 'Yes'. The reply came quickly 'That's a relief...' 

At that moment, a chatroom opened. Briefly, illogically, she wondered if Saeren had done it but saw that it was Yoosung. She joined happily.  
M.C. has joined the chatroom.  
Yoosung: Good morning!  
M.C.: Hey!  
Yoosung: How's Vs?  
M.C.: Oh, I'm at Jumins now.  
Yoosung: Really? Did he pick you up this morning?  
M.C.: Late last night  
Yoosung: Thats... not what he told us  
Yoosung: :confusedemoji:

Did Jumin lie to them? Why? Shit. Whatever it was, she had ratted him out. 

Yoosung: Anyway! Did you eat breakfast?  
M.C.: Yep! How about you?  
Yoosung: We all just got done eating  
M.C.: all?  
Yoosung: Yeah! Everyone stayed at Sevens to celebrate  
Yoosung: It was so much fun~  
Yoosung: Would've been better with you here though  
M.C.: I'll come next time!  
M.C.: What did you guys do?  
Yoosung: What DIDN'T we do? Lol  
M.C.: Oh yeah?  
Yoosung: I'll send you some videos later  
Yoosung: :winkemoji:  
M.C.: lol okay  
M.C.: But you said celebrate  
M.C.: So everything went well with the plan?  
Yoosung: Yep! The RFA is off the hook!  
M.C.: Wow. That's a relief.  
Yoosung: Tell me about it...  
Yoosung: Hey, Zen's complaining that I'm not paying attention  
Yoosung: I gotta go  
M.C.: Talk to you later!  
Yoosung: Bye!  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
M.C. has left the chatroom.

M.C. set her phone down and looked to Jumin sheepishly,  
“You didn't tell the others you were going to get me?”  
“No.” he kept reading his book.  
“Why not?”  
“I had my reasons.” he broke his focus to look at her. “Why do you ask?”  
“Because... I didn't know that the others didn't know. So now they know.” she shrugged a little, apologetic  
“Ah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to clarify a few things here that may not be that obvious since the story is mostly from M.C.s persepctive. She is in a bad mental place in this chapter (and most others), and her relationships with every dark RFA member are toxic and unhealthy. She is being abused. 
> 
> I just had to make that clear because I can't stand the idea that I might accidentally normalise their behaviour for anyone. So yeah.
> 
> Also the way they had sex in this chapter could've got M.C. pregnant. It's fiction, so there's no risk. But in real life, unprotected sex can cause pregnancy even if the man doesn't finish inside the woman.
> 
> I know there's a lot of misinformation out there so once again, had to make that clear. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! :D


	27. Monitored

Elizabeth the 3rd was staring at M.C. as Jumin thought over his options. Blue eyes seemed to plunder her soul as the cat cautiously approached, had she offended her in some way? She seemed to like M.C.s company the last time they met, what changed?  
“What are you going to do?” M.C. asked Jumin as the Elizabeth hopped gracefully into her lap and sniffed at the dress. Unfortunately, M.C. had had no option but to wear the same one V picked for her the day before.   
“Nothing, for now. If they don't bring it up, then neither will I,” he didn't seem concerned in the slightest, now his initial dismay at being discovered was dealt with.

M.C. didn't continue the topic further, distracted as Elizabeth inspected her dress, sniffing and pawing at it.  
“What's wrong, kitty?” she scratched her ears gently. Elizabeth let out a melancholy meow at the question, nuzzling into her hand. Jumin immediately took notice,  
“Elizabeth? Is something the matter?” she looked at him sadly, curling up and burying her face in the fabric. Frowning, Jumin gently tried to pick her up, only to find her clinging to her place. 

Jumin stroked her gently, looking for anything that could've caused her sadness. Something tickled the back of his mind at the sight. He sighed heavily as realisation hit,  
“This was Rikas dress. Do you miss her, Princess?”   
“Rikas? I thought it was...” she trailed off, unwilling to complete the sentence. Jumin made a face and didn't respond, carefully coaxing the forlorn cat from the folds of the fabric. She shot away, hiding herself in his blazer. 

Careful not to jostle the animal hiding in his clothes, Jumin made a phonecall.  
“Assistant Kang? I need you to bring M.C.s suitcase over, right now.” There was a short pause “No? What do you mean no? This is important. Elizabeth is-” he was interrupted by a dial tone. For a moment, Jumin stared at his phone in disgust before dialling for Seven. 

The ringtone sounded as they waited. Just as M.C. thought he should give up, she heard it pick up,  
“Hey, this is Seven, what's up?”  
“Seven do you have any dresses that M.C. coul-”  
“Bam! Gotcha! This is my voicemail! Leave a message”  
The sound of him laughing echoed as Jumin hung up, calling Yoosung instead. 

M.C. shifted away from Jumin slightly as the line went to voicemail, his annoyance grew palpable.  
“I'll just put my pyjamas back on?” she suggested, eager to diffuse the situation.   
“That would be ridiculous.” he shut the idea down curtly, hand hovering over his touch screen. Clicking his tongue, he pressed. M.C.s stomach dropped further the longer the phone rang. She could've gasped in relief as Zens irritated voice came from the phone,  
“What do you want?”  
“Come and get M.C.” Jumin wasted no time on a greeting.  
“What? Why?” Zens irritation was shoved to the side by confusion at the sudden request.  
“Just do it.” Jumin pulled the phone from his ear, moving to hang up.  
“Bastard! You don't get to order me arou-” the call ended. 

As discretely as possible, M.C. sent a text to Zen; 'Please do as he says.' closing the app as soon as she finished. Tucking her feet under her, she swiped aimlessly on her phone, unable to pull her attention entirely from Jumin. He ignored her, attempting to coax Elizabeth from her hiding place. Was it obvious how hyper aware M.C. was of his every movement? She felt like a deer in the woods, jumping at every twig snap and leaf rustle. 

When her phone buzzed for Zens response, she nearly dropped it in surprise. With a quick check to ensure she was still being ignored, she opened it; 'On my way'. She let out a short breath, relaxing back into the cushions. Finally able to distract herself in her phone, she let the time pass as Jumin tended to his pet. 

A polite knock on the door proceeded the guard from the night before,  
“Sir, there is-”  
“If it's Zen, let him in.” Jumin snapped, not looking up. With a nod, the guard disappeared back out of the door. Zen threw it open again seconds later,  
“Alright. What's going on?”  
“Elizabeth is upset” Jumin explained curtly “Thank you for coming, please leave.”  
“Seriously?! You pull me out here just because of that damn furball.” Zens face was reddening from both his anger and his allergy. M.C. jumped up and head over to him.  
“Do not insult her,” Jumin shot back.  
“Hey lets just go” M.C. tugged on Zens sleeve, edging to the door. He examined her a moment,  
“Whatever. My allergies are acting up, I'm out.” Turning, he threw an arm over M.C.s shoulder and escorted her out.

As the door swung shut behind them, Zen sneezed violently,  
“Fucking hell,” He rubbed his eyes “That asshole. Why's he decided to kick you out?” M.C. spread out the skirt of the dress,  
“Apparently this was Rikas. I think Elizabeth could smell her or something, and she got upset.”  
“That's a-ACHOO! That's all?” he shook his head “Unbelievable...”

He bent down to kiss her when they reached his motorbike, picking up his helmet as he pulled away.   
“Zen, your nose is bleeding” M.C. told him, moving to carefully dab the trickle of blood away with her sleeve.   
“Ow.” He dead-panned, grabbing her wrist, “I got punch last night. It's still sensitive. The sneezing must have set it off again.”  
“You were punched?!” she gasped, appalled “I thought it went well?”  
Zen held a handkerchief to his nose, “It did, we got what we needed and there were no major injuries”  
“But you're injured!”  
“Not seriously, this is nothing. I've had much worse” he grinned at her nonchalantly. 

Once Zen was sure the nosebleed was done with, he fit his helmet to M.C.s head and sat astride his bike.  
“You ever done this before?” he asked, glancing back to her. Climbing on behind him, she shook her head. Drawing her arms around his torso, he explained where to put her feet.  
“As long as you keep holding on and leave your feet there, you'll be fine.” he finished. Her reply was drowned by the rev of the bike as they sped away.

Wind whipped through her dress, chilling her to the bone. She found herself clinging to Zen more for warmth than safety as they wove between cars. If the honking of horns as they streamed past was anything to go by, they weren't exactly driving legally. In less time than should've been possible, they were pulling up beside Zens apartment and stowing the bike in a shed to the side of the building.

As soon as they were inside, M.C. grabbed a blanket and wrapped herself up tight. Shivering, she plopped herself down on the sofa.   
“Babe, if you were that cold you should've said something,” Zen leaned over the back of the sofa to look at her “I would've given you my jacket”  
“You wouldn't have heard me” her teeth chattered as she replied.  
“I'll make you some tea” he vanished from her line of sight.

By the time he returned, she had her shivering under control. Wriggling her arms free from the confines of the blanket, she thanked him and took the cup. He sat beside her as she warmed herself with the drink,  
“What I can't figure out,” he stretched “is why Jumin asked me, instead of the others”  
“Jaehee said no, and Yoosung and Seven went to voicemail” she explained between sips.  
“That's weird, I was with them, they were on their phones before I got the call. I must have missed Jaehee talking to him”  
“Now that I think about it, I was chatting with Yoosung right before that, too” M.C. pulled out her phone “Maybe they blocked him?” she opened a chatroom, deciding to ask, as Zen flipped on the TV.

Was it unusual for them to take this long to join or was she just being impatient? Bored she started to mess around a little.  
M.C.: Still no one is here?  
M.C.: That's no fun...  
M.C.: I summon...  
M.C.: ZEN!

She looked up,  
“Hey Zen, could you join the chat?”  
“Sure” He picked up his phone and tapped a few times “Uh, there isn't one?”  
“huh?” She looked at his phone to see that, indeed, no chats were open, “But look” he frowned as she showed him her screen.  
“Guess I better call Seven.” a few more taps and the phone was at his ear.  
“Hey, this is Seven, what's up?”  
“Hi. I think there's something wro-” Zen was cut off.  
“Bam! Gotcha! This is my voicemail! Leave a message”

Zen huffed, muttering something about always falling for it and tried a different contact. Every member of the RFA went straight to voicemail, including M.C..  
“We might have a problem. You try?” Unfortunately, it was the same story from M.C.s phone.   
“Dammit, so much for having a day off, I just left Sevens now I gotta go back?!” Zen complained, getting up. M.C. followed suit,  
“Are we going to use the motorbike again?”  
“Yeah. I'll get you a jacket”

Snugly zipped into the jacket, M.C. followed Zen back to the little shed. Waiting back a little as Zen fetched his bike, she took a look at the scenery around her. A slam spun her back around and suddenly she was being dragged away by her wrist. By the time her mind had caught up to what happened, she was seated in a car and moving. The brief moment of fear was exhaled as she saw Saeran in the drivers seat.

Blinking, she took a moment to process;  
1) Saeran had slammed the shed door shut and blocked Zen in.  
2) He had grabbed her and taken off running.  
3) They were now in the car and driving away.  
Alright. Okay. This was okay.  
“That man is a beast. We've got about five minutes before he breaks himself out.” Saeran posited, speeding ever so slightly.   
“Mind telling me what exactly is going on?” M.C. asked, frankly she was tired of all the dramatics her life had devolved into. 

To his credit, Saeran explained without hesitation. While the RFA was distracted with their mission, they had left their system unmonitored, offering him an opportunity to breach into the app, rather than just establish an unwanted connection. From there, he had been able to not only read the chats and listen in on their phone-calls, but tap their microphones too.   
“Wait wait wait. You were listening? To everything?” her mind jumped to the mornings... activities... with Jumin.   
“uh. Yeah.” Not only his face, but his neck and chest flushed scarlet, like a flashing billboard that told her he was thinking of the same thing she was. After some moments of awkwardness between the two, he cleared his throat and continued. Retrieving M.C. from Jumins would be impossible, too many guards, and he couldn't risk her getting stuck again in Sevens bomb-shelter of a home. By Saerens calculations, Zen was most likely to take her home, rather than back to Sevens with all the others.  
“So I blocked all of Jumins communications with the RFA, aside from Zen, and waited.”  
“But he spoke to Jaehee.” M.C. wondered if Saerans plan had been as effective as he seemed to think.  
“Ha. No. I spoofed her voice” Saeran was clearly proud of himself, even more so as he stole a look at M.C. to see her gape at him. “Then, when Zen picked you up, I completely cut off all their connections. The red head won't even be able to trace your phone for a while.”

That statement should have relaxed M.C., but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were both missing something. She really hoped it wasn't important.


	28. Tracked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of rape and sexual grooming

If Sevens house wasn't built to survive a nuclear blast, it would have shaken in its foundations with the force Zen used to slam the door open. Red with rage, he was yelling before he was even in the room,  
“M.C. ran off! She fucking locked me in the shed and ran off!” Yoosung and Seven scrambled to their feet.  
“What?!” Yoosungs eyes went wider than usual.  
“Why didn't you call us?” Seven spoke at the same time as him, already heading to his office.  
“The goddamn messenger isn't working!” Zen kicked the nearest object to him and the box of Honey Buddha Chips soared across the room “Where's Jaehee?”  
“She left after you did” Yoosung told him, following after Seven, unshaken by the violent outburst.

Seven sat at his desk and pulled up his tracking program, the trio held their breath as the map loaded.  
ERROR PHONE SIGNAL NOT FOUND  
Silence. Then a stream of curses from Zen.  
“Hey HEY! Chill! We still have the GPS” Seven interrupted him, switching the programs focus with a hotkey. A pink dot popped onto the screen as the error vanished. “Taadaa~ Easy! God Seven always has a failsafe.”  
“Then let's go get her,” Zen was already heading from the room, feet stamping as his anger failed to subside.  
“Hold your horses!” Seven lunged forward, grabbing his arm “This might be a trap”  
“What? How could she possibly?” Yoosung asked as Zen yanked himself free, crossing his arms but no longer moving to leave.  
“Not her.” Seven shook his head and opened a different program “The app goes down right before she vanishes? This has Unknown written all over it.”

In seconds, he was in the CCTV of Zens apartment. Clicking through the cameras, he found one that showed the shed and began to rewind. Zen came up behind Seven again,  
“What are you doing?” Both Yoosung and Seven heard the danger in Zens low tone. M.C. was in big trouble when they got to her.  
“Confirming my suspicions” Seven explained, slowing the rewind as Zen came into view on his screen. 

With the rewind running, he appeared to drive backwards into the shed, door swinging shut a second later. The whole shed shook for a few moments as he attempted to free himself. Then, running backwards onto the screen, came M.C. and Saeran,  
“Yep. There's Unknown,” Seven grimaced “Which means he took the app down too”  
“Great, let's kill two birds with one stone. Show me where they are.” The ice of Zens voice made both Seven and Yoosung shiver. 

The new Mint Eye location was very different from the first. It had less people, less space, and less organisation, with an air of apprehension. The sideways glances from people as M.C. followed Saeran confirmed what she already knew, it was her fault. Not wanting to meet the accusing eyes, she instead looked to Saeran, he was so much paler than she remembered and seemed to walk with his injured shoulder lower than the other. That was her fault too. 

Saerans office looked nearly identical to the one in the original building. Rika sat at the desk worriedly twiddling her thumbs. She jumped up the moment they entered, squeezing them both into a tight hug. Saerans face scrunched, “Leader, my...” his voice was pained. Rika jumped back,  
“I'm so sorry! But you're both alright? No extra injuries?” M.C. and Saeran nodded, but that didn't stop Rika examining them both. 

Rikas eyes went wide as they fell on the dress, grabbing M.C.s arms gently,  
“You were at Vs...” she muttered, horrified. Suddenly M.C. was being inspected, arms lifted carefully and whole body turned side to side.  
“I'm alright. Just, y'know-” M.C. shuddered as her explanation. Rika understood perfectly,  
“How many are there?”  
“Three” M.C.s voice almost didn't work in that moment. Rika winced, taking a moment to deal with the news. With her thoughts in order, she spoke again,  
“I have some things to take care of. Saeran, you can keep her company, right?”  
“Of course” At the affirmation she gave a warm smile to the two, and left. 

M.C. took a seat, looking at the door as it shut behind Rika,  
“Did you tell her what you overheard?”  
“Not the part you're worried about” he refused to meet her gaze.  
“Are you going to?” she wrung her hands together, mortified.  
“No. But...” he seemed to steel himself, looking at her finally “Look. I don't know what your relationship was like with the other Jumin, but you have to realise that's a different person. A bad one”  
“Woah! Saeran I'm not- I don't-” M.C. stumbled through her reply, offended by his assumption “I'll admit, I started it that time, but you saw what he did to me when I didn't 'play along'” She gestured to the remnants of the bruise on her face, "What am I supposed to do?"

Saeran stared at her, mouth moving uselessly as the software in his brain threw errors,  
“He... what?”  
“I thought you knew. Isn't that what the apology text was?” she frowned, she had been so sure.  
“No. That was just the first time I managed to get a message through to you. He really did _that_?” his voice was heavy with quiet horror.  
“They all did... To both me and the other me” Acknowledging it out loud brought tears to her eyes. Saeran crushed her in a tight hug, surely he was hurting himself with it, but she leant into him gladly, sobbing into his chest.  
“I'm so sorry. I'm so unbelievably sorry.” He just kept muttering apologies, over and over as he held her. 

By the time she had cried herself out, the front of his shirt was soaked through.  
“Listen.” He shifted back, looking into her eyes with determination. “I won't let it happen ever again. I'm nearly ready with the algorithm. I will send you home before any of them touch you again. I promise.”  
“Thank you” she sniffled, wiping her face on her sleeve “Don't you get hurt again though, okay? Please?”  
“I'll try.” Had M.C. been of calmer mind, she may have noticed that there was much less conviction in his voice to that one. 

M.C. clutched his shirt, calming down at the comfort of his promise. It wasn't until he jerked away from her that she realised she had been pushing closer to kiss him.  
“I'm sorry! I don't know what's wrong with me!” she took a few step back, hiding her face.  
“Uhm... I'm gonna get you some tea. If you'd like?” He shuffled to the door awkwardly  
“Yes please, I'd like that” 

As soon as she heard him leave, M.C. closed in on herself. Wrapping her arms around her body and crouching down. What in the hell did she do? Why did she do that? What came over her? Her hands found her hair and pulled, trying to force some sense into her, clearly addled, brain. Had just over a week with this universes RFA made her forget how normal human interaction worked? She groaned, sitting fully on the floor, head in her hands. 

A hand on her shoulder made her yelp, shuffling backwards in panic.  
“Hey, It's just me. You're fine.” she looked up, Saeran had returned, how long had she been on the floor? He set a teacup down on the ground and sat himself beside her.  
“I'm sorry Saeran, I really don't know why I did that” she apologised, flushed with shame.  
“M.C. it's okay. I've seen this happen before when people have been groomed. We'll both just forget about it.” he placed a careful hand on her shoulder “No need to worry” Groomed? Is that what had happened?

Taking a breath, she nodded at him and picked up her tea,  
“Thank you” she gave him a small smile.  
“It's really no problem. Is there any other way I can help you feel safe?” his tone was so gentle.  
“We should get rid of my phone.” M.C. held it out to him “Seven could track it”  
“Like I said in the car, he can't. I made sure of it” he reassured her again “And I'll get an alert if he tries to establish a connection. When I do, we just have to take the battery out.” M.C. still felt like they were missing something, but chalked it up to paranoia. She focussed on her tea, trying to shake off the feeling. Sensing she wasn't convinced, Saeran stood himself up,  
“How about I check it? Will that help?” he offered.  
“Mhmm.” 

He sat himself at his desk, swivelling his chair to face the screens and tapped in a few commands. It hurt to lift his arm to type, but that didn't matter, it was nothing compared to the suffering he had subjected both M.C.s to. He deserved it. His program opened;  
Tracking attempts: 1  
+1 from last login

Communication attempts: 14  
+3 from last login

Repair attempts: 1  
+1 from last login

They knew she was gone, and their knew their communications were down. He pulled up their locations easily, since he had access to their app. Saeyoung, Yoosung and Zen were all at the bunker. Jumin, V and Jaehee were in their respective homes. He pulled up the command prompt to see the progress being made on the repair, since no alert sounded, Saeyoung was only trying to restore communications so far. It seemed they wanted to get a message to the others before trying to track her.

It took some counter-hacking, Saeran careful not to let Saeyoung know he was being watched, but finally the code being entered by his opponent filled the screen. As he had guessed, Saeyoungs focus was on restoring the communication channels. Saeran grit his teeth as a vulnerability opened that would restore the tracking much faster than from scratch, any second now that alert would sound. Yet none came.  
That was weird, had he missed it? Surely not, Saeyoung was too talented to miss such a glaring hole. Yet he didn't use it. 

Shit. He was missing something. He didn't want to panic the already terrified woman sat on the floor so he kept his voice level,  
“He's not trying to track you, but why don't we take the battery from your phone anyway? Then we don't have to worry about it.”  
“Yeah.” she immediately popped off the back of her phone and pulled the battery from it's seat.  
“Feel better?” He asked. She shrugged in response, which was just a way to hide the 'no' that she didn't want to say.  
“What's bothering you?” he moved back down to sit on the floor, meeting her eyes.  
“Don't you think we're missing something?” she sighed, setting her cup down.  
“Like what?” he did, but he did not want to tell her that just yet.  
“I don't know” she admitted, biting her lip.

Saeran studied her a moment,  
“Let's rubber duck it.” he suggested.  
“What?” M.C. stared at him as if he was an alien.  
“It's a coding term. When you can't figure out what's wrong with your code, you talk through your logic, out loud, to a rubber duck. That way, you find the issue.” he explained.  
“Do you have a rubber duck?”  
“No I usually just talk to myself.” He admitted, somewhat bashfully “But right now, just consider me your rubber duck.”

M.C. sat up a little straighter, relieved at being taken seriously,  
“I get the feeling every time we talk about tracking, so it has to have something to do with that” Saeran folded his hands under his chin, listening carefully “and that bothers me... because Seven found me last time, he's proven he can track me.” she paused, finding the next step in her logic “But you said he can't find my phone. So what's the problem?” There was silent for a while as she considered it. Saeran watched her think, not wanting to risk disturbing her train of thought. 

The silence dragged on,  
“Because I didn't have my phone the first time!” she blurted, realisation hitting. “He found me without it. He... has another way to track me!” she leapt to her feet, “SAERAN, HE HAS ANOTHER WAY TO TRACK ME!”


	29. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mild violence

M.C. took a few rapid steps towards the door before turning and retreating deeper into the room. Saeran stood himself up as she floundered,  
“Hey, come on, we need to be level headed about this. Deep breaths.” she complied, taking deep shuddering breaths. Once he was sure she had collected herself enough, he continued “Are you absolutely sure you didn't have your phone the first time?” she nodded fervently, beginning to chew on her nails.  
“Alright. Stay calm. We can deal with this” He kept his distance, movements and tone of one trying to calm a startled animal “I'll put out an alert and we'll go from there.”

M.C. seemed to agree so Saeran slipped out of the room to do as he'd said. The longer he was gone the more she was unable to stay still, going from hugging herself, to shifting in place, to walking circuits of the room. Finally he returned, a flurry of action behind him as he closed the door.  
“I'm going to try and finish with the algorithm. If any of them move, we will leave immediately” he explained, sitting at his desk. He brought up his tracker map and set it on the far left monitor. All the others filled with strings of letters that M.C. had never seen before. Evidently, they meant something to Saeran as he began typing with incredible speed. 

“This is taking too long!” Zen yelled, shaking Sevens chair, “We know where she is, just show me and let's go!”  
“No Zen! Unknown has a whole organisation behind him. Get off!” Seven turned and shoved him “We need to get a message to the others and plan this”  
Zen regained his balance and leant forward, looking ready to strike at the hacker. Yoosung shuffled to the side, creating a blockade between the two,  
“How about I get the others, Zen goes to check the place out, you get the app running again and we all meet back here?” he widened his eyes hopefully and spoke with enthusiasm, a common tactic of his when trying to diffuse a situation.  
“Cut it out,” Zen scoffed, rolling his eyes. Despite himself, he relaxed from his poised position and folded his arms “I like that plan though”

Seven considered it, fingers hovering over his keyboard, “Alright, that sounds good. But Zen, recon only, yeah?”  
“Yeah. Unless I get the opportunity to grab her”  
“I'll allow it” Seven couldn't deny the compromise, knowing he'd do the same.  
“Show me where she is so I can go” Zen spoke, still impatient regardless of the agreement. Seven pulled up the map, hitting the shortcut to zoom in and show the address. There was a pause as they all stared at the screen,  
“That's Vs house.” Yoosung noted.  
“It is” Seven agreed.  
“I don't think she's there, Seven” Zen added.  
“Neither do I” Seven agreed again.  
“Why's it wrong?” Yoosung asked.  
“Good question” Seven tapped his cheek before turning to Zen once more.

There was a pause before he continued speaking, “Did she have her own shoes on?”  
“How should I know? Why does it matter?” Zen raised an eyebrow at him.  
“Becaaaaauuuuse... The GPS is in her shoes. If she's wearing shoes from V then...” Seven explained, as if the Zen was stupid for not knowing already.  
“So what you're saying is you don't know where she is?” Zen took a step towards him, broadcasting his anger once again.  
“Don't put the blame on me” Seven was already backing away, scowl growing on his face “You're the one who lost her without her tracker!”

Zen lunged. Seven threw himself backwards, narrowly avoiding the fingers that grasped for his throat. In one motion he got to his feet and tackled the albino, sending them both back down to the floor.  
“Hey! Stop it!” Yoosungs yelling was ignored as the two wrestled. He couldn't tell through the cluster of limbs who was landing the hits that sounded out.

With a huff, Yoosung left the room, returning moments later with a glass of water. Picking a safe moment to approach the writhing mass, he upended the water over it before promptly backing away.  
“Yoosung, what the fuck?!” Zen snarled, breaking away from Seven  
“This doesn't help us! We can figure something out but not if you two beat each other to death!” Yoosung stamped his foot to emphasize the point.  
Seven piped up, straightening his glasses as he spoke “I can find her by following the cameras through the city. It'll take a while but it'll work.”  
Yoosung looked the two, they both seemed ruffled but surprisingly uninjured, not that either would show if they were in pain at that moment, that would be like admitting a loss. He huffed “Why didn't you say that sooner?”  
“I'm not gonna let someone get away with ordering me around in my own damn home.” Seven scoffed, returning to his desk.

Zen dusted himself off and fixed his outfit, glaring at the opposite wall.  
“Why don't we go and get the others, and Seven finds out where she is instead of fixing the app?” Yoosung suggested.  
“Fine.” Seven and Zen spoke in unison, both refusing to look at the other.  
“Then let's go!” Yoosung once again tried to inject some cheer into the situation, hopping on his feet with false excitement. Zen left the room without a word.

“Saeran, they're leaving.” M.C. whispered with horror as the dots moved from Sevens house. With a nod, he hit a hotkey. The save bar seemed to crawl across the screen at a snails pace as M.C. jittered behind him. With another hotkey he was safe to pull the USB from the machine. Yanking a bulky laptop bag onto his shoulder, he grabbed her hand and hurried her from the room.

“They're on the move!” he called as they rushed through the building. The already busy space became almost frantic at the announcement. Even so, no one impeded their exit, it seemed everyone knew they had to leave and do it fast. Of course they knew, they were preparing themselves for the oncoming shit-storm. They passed the exit as M.C. was imagining just how bad it could be for those who stayed in the building. Nameless people who didn't even know her, working to keep her safe. 

Before she was even completely sat in the seat, Saeran had sped the car away, the aggressive acceleration pressing her into the back cushion. M.C. gripped the leather as they dodged and wove, a stark contrast to Saerans previous careful driving. Their sheer speed turned the surroundings to a colourful blur and M.C. could only hope that Saerans reaction speed was much better than her own. 

They came to a sudden stop beside a field, Saeran pulling his laptop from his bag and onto his lap. Plugging in the USB, he returned to his Mach 20 typing. Though M.C. trusted his judgement, she still craned her neck to examine all around their location. As much as the row of bushes enclosed their car, she wasn't sure the stark white of the vehicle would be difficult to find.  
“We're staying ten minutes, tops.” Saeran reassured her, eyes still focussed on the screen “and if they get too close to us I'll get a notification and we'll leave immediately.”

M.C. nodded and settled back into her seat, hugging herself once more. Was there any way at all to get away with it if they caught her now? Not likely. This was it. Do or die.

True to his word, exactly ten minutes after they stopped, Saeran pushed the still open laptop onto her lap and drove away once more. Another safe location, another ten minutes, and the cycle repeated. M.C. noted that Saeran never hesitated to pick a location, or stopped to examine it. This contingency must have been planned and prepared in advance. Saeran was determined not to fail her again. The thought stilled her shaking legs but she still didn't dare hope. She would accept she was safe when, and only when, she was home. 

They kept repeating their sequence for hours. At one moment, Saeran checked the tracker and noted the whole RFA had returned to Sevens home.  
“What are they planning?” he muttered to himself, then clamped his lips shut. If they were there, they weren't following him and M.C.. Not yet at least, and it wouldn't do to frighten her more. Another damn thing that didn't make sense. If they knew where she was, why weren't they moving in? He dismissed it to focus on the algorithm. 

“Let me make sure I have this correct.” Jumin stood at the end of Sevens living room, arms folded “You lost M.C.? Without a tracker?”  
Seven, Zen and Yoosung nodded guiltily.  
“And Unknown took down our app?” Jumin continued, to more nods.  
“That's... unfortunate.” Vs voice was level as he sat.  
“Do you have any small semblance of a plan?” Jaehee asked, the rare sight of frustration on her face.  
“Uh huh.” Seven perked up, “I used the city cameras to track about half of the journey. You guys can follow the video feed the rest of the way while I get the app back online.”  
“And then?” Jumin urged him to continue.  
“We figure out the best way to raise hell.” Seven concluded, a glint of anger mixed with anticipation in his eyes “Make them pay.”

The first orange stripe of sunset stained the sky when Saeran finally lifted his aching fingers.  
“It's finished.” he uttered almost reverently.  
“So let's do it!” that repressed hope flickered in her chest and coloured her voice.  
“Not yet.” he scratched the back of his neck as he delivered the bad news. “I'm pretty sure it'll put you in the same place you are now. Meaning-” he gestured out the window “you'd be stranded in the middle of nowhere.”  
“Oh.”  
“So, where is a good place for me to take you?”  
“Rika's apartment.” M.C.s response was automatic. Saeran shot her a look,  
“That's not safe.”  
“It might be the safest, actually. If it doesn't work I can tell them I tricked you to get back. Then maybe whatever they do to me won't be so bad.” she reasoned, her voice holding more confidence than she felt. 

Saeran stared at her for a moment, expression unreadable.  
“Right. I can't blame you for thinking I'd fuck this up again. So yeah. Rika's it is” he shoved the laptop back to her, not meeting her eyes “I really am sorry.”  
“That's not what I meant” she protested, but the rev of the engine drowned her words. 

The tremor of her legs returned, growing stronger the deeper they travelled into the city. She couldn't help but look at the laptop screen every few seconds for that dreaded notification. None came. After a quick check of the RFAs location, they stopped outside the apartment. Taking a shaky breath, M.C. grasped the door handle, ready to run into the house.  
“They're nowhere close. It's okay.” Saeran placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  
She nodded, gritting her teeth to gather strength “Thank you Saeran, seriously.”  
“If this doesn't work, we'll find another plan.” he didn't acknowledge her thanks. With more courage, she climbed from the car, turning to watch as Saeran took the laptop.

She held her breath as he pressed the enter key.

Suddenly she felt as if she were falling, yet rooted to the ground at the same time. Her vision swirled with colours and symbols that she didn't recognise as her ears filled with static. In the eternity of a few seconds she no longer felt real. Then everything snapped back to normal. The car was gone, so was Saeran, but she was still in front of the apartment.

She sprinted for the door.


	30. Me and I

It took a few attempts to get the key-code correct, her hands shaking too much to hit the correct buttons. She fell in the door as it clicked open, not realising just how hard she had been pushing against it. Kicking it closed, she sat up. 

The curtain, what colour was it? Blue? or Red? Did it work? Please let it have worked...

Blue. 

She was home. Home! Relief slumped her against the door as she squeezed her eyes shut. How was she going to tell the RFA - her RFA, about all of this... Should she? They'd be so upset on her behalf. Would they blame themselves? What about Kim Cho? What would they think of-  
“What the fuck?” her thoughts froze at the sound of the voice. Who was here? Why were they here? 

Slowly she opened her eyes, and saw herself, close and frowning, examining her carefully.  
“Oh my God! You're safe too!” M.C. cried, jumping forward and grabbing the other her into a tight hug.   
“Woah hey!” the other her stiffened and M.C. immediately let her go, remembering just how much this version of her had been through. She almost certainly wouldn't want to be grabbed out of nowhere by a stranger either.  
“Sorry! Sorry!” she apologised, shifting away from her.  
“Yo... are you like, my long lost twin or something?” the complete confusion on the other hers face resonated with her, a reminder of how she felt that first day.   
“Not quite... let's go sit. I'll explain.” She began, standing up.

There was a brief, awkward, moment when they approached the table, both reaching for the same chair at the same time. M.C. changed her choice first and they both sat across from each other. M.C intended to give a brief summary of what had happened, but as soon as she opened her mouth the events of the past few days (had it really been just over a week?) spilled from her in waves. She told the other her everything, sparing not a single detail. She listened intently, expression unreadable. A phone rang while she spoke, for a moment M.C. thought it was hers, before remembering it still did not have the battery in it. The other her silenced it as more and more notifications came in.

Finally, M.C. had explained it all. The other her took a moment, eyes flicking between her and the ceiling as she processed,  
“Okay. I'm gonna call you Blue.”  
“What?” of everything the other her could have said, M.C. did not anticipate that.  
“Because of the curtain colour. You call me Red. I.. don't want to call you my name.” Red explained. M.C. nodded,  
“How about you? You didn't figure out something was wrong at all? What happened to you since we switched?”  
“Not a lot...” Red shrugged “I thought it was a trick at first. When delivery day came and Jaehee didn't show, I was real confused. I casually mentioned I was gonna go to the store to see how they'd react and they didn't get mad at me... that was the first time I left this apartment in months.”  
“Why didn't you run away?” M.C. asked, “I would've!”  
“I still thought it was a trick and you know damn well how bad that would have gone for me if it was.” Red shuddered to emphasize her point.  
“You're right” M.C. hugged herself at the thought “But it's alright now. Saeran saved us both!” Red didn't look convinced,  
“If you say so.”

M.C. grabbed her phone and reinserted the battery,  
“Was it Luciel calling you? I bet he saw me come in on the hall camera and is super confused. We better tell the others what's going on.”  
Red didn't reply as M.C. waited for her phone to load. At last, she was able to open the messenger app. There was a recently closed chat but she didn't check it, instead clicking to the previous day, curious about what they had talked about in her absence.

Her finger hovered over the screen. That was weird, every chat was duplicated. She picked one at random and read through the first few messages, they were as she remembered. Curious, she clicked the duplicate chat, this one was different. Not actually a direct duplicate. Did she have messages from the other universe and this one? Swiping back to today she frowned at the lack of duplicates, but of course there weren't any messages from the criminal (Reds) RFA, their app had been taken down.

It was time to open a new chat and tell everyone what had happened. She glanced at the icons of the last one just before doing so and regretted it instantly. Every RFA member was in that chat twice. Oh shit.  
“Blue, you look like you're gonna shit yourself. What is it?” Red asked, sounding more annoyed than concerned.  
“Uh. Gimme a sec and I'll tell you.” M.C. chewed her lip as she spoke. She'd should check first before worrying Red, so she opened the chat.

707: GUYS THIS IS SO CRAZY  
707: YOU ALL GOTTA GET TO MY PLACE RIGHT NOW  
Jumin Han: Yes, this is certainly a peculiar situation.  
Jumin Han: I did not type that.  
Jumin Han: Luciel, is this a prank?  
Jaehee Kang: That's an odd prank to pull.  
Yoosung: What is it?  
707: No you guys, you don't understand!  
707: There are two of us!  
707: All of us!  
707: Other me explained it all!  
707: Say something, other me!  
707: Wassup  
707: See?!  
ZEN: All I see is you spamming the chat  
ZEN: No. He's telling the truth  
ZEN: ?! That wasn't me  
Yoosung: :confusedemoji:  
Yoosung: I don't get it  
707: Omg just look

One of the Sevens sent a photo. It showed two Sevens, and one of all the other members of the RFA.

V: Luciel, is that...?  
707: No. I thought so too but it's not.  
Jaehee Kang: I do not remember taking that picture  
707: I took it like just now!  
ZEN: Probably photoshopped  
Jaehee Kang: As he said, apparently there are two of each of us  
Jaehee Kang: Please do not impersonate me, Luciel  
707: I'm not!  
Jaehee Kang: This prank is quite elaborate.  
Yoosung: It's not a prank  
Yoosung: Hey, now he's pretending to be me!  
V: This is getting confusing  
V: I suggest you all join us at Sevens to clear things up  
Jumin Han: If you say so. It would be nice to see you.  
V: I did not send that. I'm not at Luciels house.  
ZEN: Luciel, cut it out. It's just confusing.  
707: Guys just please come over, this will be so much easier if you do.  
Jumin Han: Fine, but only because I'm tired of this nonsense.  
Jaehee Kang: I'll be there too.  
Yoosung: Dude if you wanted us to visit so bad you coulda just asked  
Yoosung: I'll be there, you didn't need this weird prank  
V: I'm worried Luciel. I'll come too.  
ZEN: Well I can't be the only one not showing.  
Jaehee Kang: What about M.C.?  
707: I'll go and get them!  
Jumin Han: And who will let us in?  
707: OMG you guys are dense lol  
707: I'll let you in!  
Yoosung: ...right  
Jumin Han has left the chatroom.  
ZEN has left the chatroom.  
Jumin Han has left the chatroom.  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
Yoosung has left the chatroom.  
707 has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
V has left the chatroom.  
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.  
ZEN has left the chatroom.  
V has left the chatroom.  
707 has left the chatroom.

“Oh fuck.” M.C. breathed, her suspicions confirmed. “Red, we gotta get out of here”  
“Why?”  
“Your RFA came here with me.”  
“Shit!” They jumped up at the same time, but far too late. The sound of the door opening alerted them of that.

Red glared daggers at M.C. as Seven waltzed into the room.  
“Which one are you?” M.C. dared ask.  
“The one that strongly suggests you come with him!” his voice was cheery but the warning was clear. This was the bad one. M.C. searched for a plan and found nothing, she glanced at Red and found her just as flummoxed as herself. 

With few other options, M.C. stepped forward, just a moment after Red. If her and Red sprinted in different directions, one of them would get away and be able to get a message to the others, warn them, but what would happen to the one that was caught in the meantime? And the others were already on their way to Sevens. Would the red RFA hurt her RFA to get her back? She couldn't put it past them. There really was no way out of this. Any message on the app would go to the other RFA too. She had to tell them in person no matter what. They could figure this out together. The decision helped her keep trudging toward Seven. 

The man wrapped his arms around their shoulders, the uncomfortable squeeze revealing the pretence of the gesture as he led them to the car. His friendly demeanour melted away as they moved out of sight of the cameras.  
“Look.” he snarled “I know which of you is which but I don't care. You are both going to keep your lips sealed if you know what's good for you. And to the goody-two shoes who thought she could get away with running off _twice_ ” he let the word hand for a moment, rage condensed into it and freezing M.C.s blood “You've got another thing coming.” The grip on her shoulder had become bruising as he spoke, proving he knew it was her.

He directed them both to get in the back, only releasing them to slam the doors. The sudden shut in had M.C. feeling claustrophobic and closed in, despite the spacious interior. She was sure they were locked in without even checking.   
“Thanks for the false hope, bitch.” Red hissed, not looking at her. M.C. bit her lip with guilt as Seven climbed into the car. The temperature around them seemed to rise with his aura of rage and in moments she was sweating in it. 

She hadn't even bothered to imagine her RFA meeting the other RFA. How would they react to each other? Seven had made it obvious that they didn't want the criminal side of it revealed to her RFA, so they clearly intended to lie to them. She'd have to be incredibly careful in warning them. Yoosung was right out, sweet as he was, he wouldn't be able to keep up a facade for long. Starting with Luciel seemed the best option, a secret agent should easily navigate waters similar to this. Hopefully he would be able to come up with a better plan than she could. 

The oppressive silence of the journey made it seem so much longer. The heavy dread in her stomach did nothing to help the matter. She should be forming a plan further than what she had, but she just couldn't gather anything coherent. Her mind tried to cram together every possible scenario, but only ended up creating a jumbled mess of fragmented thoughts. 

The scenery around them began to change, signalling that they were growing closer to their destination, and she grew more restless with every passing moment. Red seemed to be experiencing the same, shifting in her seat far more often. Finally the gate came in to view, sliding open the moment Seven gave the password. By the vehicles waiting outside, M.C. supposed that everyone had arrived already. Another thought hit her, how could she tell which of them was a good guy? She could do nothing without knowing that, getting it wrong once would ruin the whole thing. Not that she wasn't in a world of shit already. 

Whatever happened she hoped more than anything that her RFA would be alright by the end of it.


	31. An Ally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, references to abuse and bodily mutilation

It was clear that Luciels house was in chaos the moment the door cracked open. Confused shouting filled the room as 10 people tried to make sense of seeing themselves outside of a mirror. The sounds petered off as their entrance was noticed. M.C. cast nervous eyes around the room and her skin crawled as she looked at the Doll Maker. Suddenly and ironically, she was grateful for her Vs injured eyes. If she had to choose out of all of them, being able to tell V from the Doll Maker was all she could ask for. The Doll Maker spoke first,  
“Well it looks like we have everyone here!” the smile on his face was the same shape as it had always been, but she no longer felt its warmth “That's great! Now we can start figuring out all of this”  
“Where do we even start?! This is so crazy!” one of the Yoosungs asked. 

M.C. tried to walk further into the room, to Luciel, and start her plan, but was stopped by Sevens grip on the back of her dress.  
“Crazy, and also very interesting.” a Zen added, both of them grinning at each other with pride.  
“I propose we start with who is who” one of the Jumins suggested “I'd like to know which of you I actually know, as opposed to those that just look like them.”  
“Oh yeah! We can do the 'tell me something only the real you would know' thing from the movies!” Luciel piped up. M.C. had to keep an eye on him, his location the only thing she could use to separate him from Seven. If she lost track, her only hope would be the necklace. 

She took a moment to commit her markers to memory. Hopefully it would help her remember more physical differences that she could use to distinguish who was who.  
1) V was partially blind, but the Doll Maker had perfect vision  
2) Luciel wore a cross necklace, Seven did not  
Was that really all she had? At least she also had names to distinguish between those two, helped organise her thoughts. 

For the others she had nothing, not unless she made it.  
“Hey I know an easier way!” he mouth worked before she could stop it “everyone who has been to Rikas apartment stand on the left, if you haven't stand on the right.” Though everyone was blatantly perplexed at the request, they moved to follow it. 

The group split, but not perfectly down the middle. The left side had an extra M.C. and an extra Seven.  
“Okay. I need to be with the guys who haven't been.” M.C. said confidently, stepping forward. Seven hesitated to release her, but they both knew that would be suspicious. “One of the Sevens also needs to be over there. You know who you are.”  
“Yeah that's me” Luciel walked over “In my timeline-” he waggled his fingers dramatically “-none of these guys were allowed at Rikas”. Finally, the group was divided evenly and, for the moment, M.C. knew who was on her side. That would all change once the groups mixed together again, though.

There was a lot of frowning from the other RFA at the comment.  
“Really? Not even me? uh- you, V?” the Doll Maker asked. V shook his head.  
“Was Rika with Seven or something?!” Yoosung spoke incredulously.  
“No.” several voices chimed at once.  
“I just respected her privacy” V explained, puffing out a short laugh “deja vu”

“Let's move on.” the Jumin on M.C.s side of the room spoke “Which side belongs here, and which is... in a different universe, or however Seven put it.”  
“It's you guys” Red spoke for the first time in a while. M.C. nodded in agreement.  
“How do you two know so much about this?” the other Jaehee questioned. M.C. saw the suspicion behind her eyes. Jaehee was sharp as anything, of course she'd started to put the pieces together.  
“I can explain that part.” Seven jumped in “Or like, everything really. I said I would once everyone got here anyway.”  
“Can we all sit down first? This is a long story” The other Yoosung whined slightly.  
“No. I don't want to lose who's who” other Zen huffed.  
“I got it!” Luciel ran from the room, returning moments later with handful of colourful hair clips. He handed them out to the RFA on the right; green for Yoosung, white for Zen, yellow for Jaehee, Purple for Jumin, blue for V, black for M.C. and saving a red one for himself. “We'll have the clips, you guys won't”

It was a simple enough solution, everyone inserted the small plastic into their hair. Everyone aside from Jumin, he opted to attach it to his tie, just under the knot. M.C. breathed a silent sigh of relief, even without knowing she needed it, Luciel had helped her so much already. An easy to spot, definite sign of who was on her side. That problem solved, everyone moved to take a seat.

As soon as he was comfortable, Seven began to tell the tale;  
“Alright so basically, like a week and a half ago the Unknown of our universe like tapped into the code of the universe or something and he used it to switch the M.C.s”  
“Wait so we've had that M.C. instead of ours?” the other Zen looked between M.C. and Red.  
“No wonder she's been so different.” the other Jaehee spoke in a clipped voice. She might've imagined it, but M.C. felt a shift in the room at that. They now knew that she was the one who they liked more... but also the one who ran off on them.  
“How do you know all of this?” the Jumin with the clip queried Seven.  
“M.C. told me” he pointed to M.C. as he responded, “That one” he clarified as he did so. M.C. sucked in a breath, now they knew she lied to them, too,  
“S- ah Unknown told me. Yoosung knew too.” she hoped to deflect some of the blame for the secret.  
“No I didn't” the Yoosung with the clip frowned, befuddled.  
“Not you, Yoosung. Me Yoosung.” the other Yoosung corrected him.

The Doll Maker sighed,  
“Right. I would like to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. However, we need different names for everyone, this is confusing matters.”  
“I agree. The Sevens are easy since they have so many names anyway” the Zen on the right took the lead, pointing to Seven “We'll call you Luciel, ours can stay Seven”  
“Gonna have to switch that around, buddy” Seven shrugged “I aint never had the name Luciel”  
“Huh? So what's your baptismal name then?” the other redhead seemed excited at the news.  
“None. Wasn't baptised. So you be Luciel, I'll stick to Seven”  
Luciels face fell a little “You weren't baptised?”  
“Nope”  
“You don't believe in God?”  
“Not in the slightest”  
“We're off track” the Jaehee with the clip interjected. After a little debate, finally everyone had a name. 

M.C. listed them in her head again in an effort to keep it all categorised;  
The good guys, her RFA, all had a coloured hairclip and would all keep their usual names (though Seven would have to exclusively be called Luciel for the time being) and M.C. herself would be called Blue. As for the other, criminal RFA;  
Seven – Seven  
V – Jihyun  
Jaehee – Assistant Kang  
Jumin – Mr Han  
Yoosung – Sungie (Sevens suggestion)  
Zen – Hyun (he didn't seem to mind the name, in contrast to his counterpart)  
M.C. - Red

With that done, conversation returned to it's main topic.  
“What I don't get,” Seven began, “Is why Unknown would do something so extreme to a charity organisation like us?”  
His words would seem innocent enough to her RFA, but M.C. knew the warning he was sharing with his. Translation; 'these guys aren't like us, don't give anything away'. It was clear they understood from the glances they gave each other at his words.  
“What I'm more interested in.” Mr Han changed the subject “Is how Unknown managed to speak to M.C. without any of us knowing. You were supposed to be protecting her from this stuff, Seven.”  
“I was! That's why I did know about it!” he defended himself grumpily.  
“In that case, why did you only tell ...Sungie...” Mr Han made his disdain for the nickname clear “and not the rest of us?”  
“I didn't want you guys to worry. Same for Sungie, but he figured me out.” Seven managed to explain without revealing any incriminating details. 

The others, however, weren't convinced. An argument quickly broke out among the other RFA, clipped speech and carefully chosen words allowed them to bicker without revealing the truth. M.C. didn't have time to marvel at their expertise in subterfuge, as she was engaging in a little of her own. While they were distracted, she typed a note out on her phone and passed it to Luciel;  
'These guys are dangerous. Violent criminals. We have to get everyone away from them.'  
Luciel looked it over and then back to her, expression unreadable, she followed his gaze as it traced the ghost of the bruise on her cheekbone, practically invisible to all but the most attentive, before falling on the bruise on her arm. She was glad her neck was covered, unwilling to explain the marks on her neck. 

Luciel handed her phone back, not quite subtle enough.  
“Hey, Blue. I wanna see whats on your phone too!” Hyun called through his companions quarrel, lips pressing together in masked suspicion.  
“Yo it's an awesome cat picture!” Luciel jumped in with a grin “You wanna see?”  
“Ugh. No.”  
“Wow, so Hyun hates cats as much as our Zen, huh?” Luciel laughed loudly and M.C. thanked her instinct, he was absolutely the best to speak to first. She just hoped he'd get them out of this without things turning nasty. 

Hyuns words had cut off his RFAs argument and as it quieted, Yoosung piped up,  
“But Red, why didn't you say anything to us?”  
“I didn't know until Blue showed up. I knew something was off but not what.” she had taken to staring at the wall, not bothering to cover her foul mood even as she replied to them. Luciel started tapping on his phone, suddenly ignoring the situation around them.  
“...Are you okay?” Zen asked her, leaning forward.  
“Just peachy.”  
“She gets like this. Don't worry about it.” Hyun dismissed her attitude flippantly, much to the concern of M.C.s RFA. None of them directly called him on it, but their expressions said enough. Luciel even looked up from his phone, apparently not ignoring them as much as he seemed to be. Silence fell on the room.

Assistant Kang restarted the conversation after some moments,  
“Blue, you said you spoke to Unknown, can you tell us more about him?” The question was loaded, everyone on the other RFA knew damn well that she had been in cahoots with him in one way or another and had met him, not just spoken to him.  
“Well...” M.C. looked to Seven, trying to gauge how much he wouldn't mind she tell.  
“Oh yeah. He's my brother, Saeran.” Seven revealed nonchalantly.  
There was a chorus of what's from both RFAs. Luciels was the loudest, staring up at the other him with...sadness? Desperation?  
“Seven.” Jihyuns voice was firm “That was definitely not a secret you should have kept”  
“What? He's my brother, why do you care so much?”  
“Because this concerns the safety of all of us!” it was the first time M.C. had seen the man driven to anger. He contained it quickly but the whole room was already staring at him. M.C. could tell the members of the other RFA saw the lie of his reasoning, especially Mr Han. 

M.C.s eyes met Jihyuns and they had a moment of understanding. Jihyun wasn't worried about Saeran. He was worried about who was with Saeran. To put it bluntly; she was the only other person who knew Rika was still alive, and he knew she knew. 

His urge to cut out her tongue had probably tripled.


	32. Locked in

Luciel stared at Seven for a moment, thousands of questions fighting to be the first from his mouth. He couldn't ask them all. Right now he had to keep M.C. (just Blue M.C. or both...?) and the rest of his friends safe. He allowed himself one,  
“How is he doing?”  
“He's against us. It doesn't matter” Seven snapped back. Luciel huffed and turned back to his typing, every second since Blue had shown him that message had further proven what she wrote. These guys were evil. Luciel would always care about Saeran, no matter what. How could Seven give up on him?!

V cleared his throat, “I'd love to learn more about you all! It's not every day you meet a carbon copy of yourself.”  
“I wouldn't quite say carbon copy” Mr Han noted “Are you blind, V?”  
“Not completely.” V fidgeted a little, uncomfortably.   
“I keep asking him to get a surgery to fix it but he won't” Jumin added. Blue noted the hint of concern in his eyes as he said this.  
“Aren't you a photographer, too?” Jihyun frowned. He seemed genuinely upset by the idea of not being able to take pictures. Leaning in closer, he tilted his head, trying to see under the sunglasses.  
“He is.” Yoosung answered for V, nose crinkling just slightly, giving away his distaste for the current topic of conversation.   
“What happened?” Assistant Kang joined the questioning, “It can't be natural or our Jihyun would have it too.”  
“Hey, I wanted to get to know you guys, why are we talking about me? It was just an accident, nothing more.” V laughed lightly, deflecting. M.C. blinked, something about V in that moment had triggered Rika's voice in her head again. The same 'V is a liar' from before, only not as urgent sounding. She dismissed it, putting it down to the memories of the Doll Maker colouring her judgement. 

Luciel finished his code as conversation continued. It had to be ready, he wished he could test it but he had one shot here. First thing was first, he sent out a message;  
'Miss Vanderwood! SOS! We got some bad guys invading the house! Lock down initiation soon! Override code is the place we met!  
Trust no one who doesn't know that code, even if they look exactly like me! See you soon ;)  
P.S. not a joke, legit calling for help'  
That hint was impossible for anyone but himself and Vanderwood to answer. Unless...

He paused,  
"Heeey, what's Vanderwood like in your universe?" Luciel asked, pushing that 'I'm not taking this seriously' lilt into his voice  
"Who?" Seven frowned, leaning back into his seat.  
"Oh. You don't know her?" Luciel silently thanked God as he spoke.   
"Luciel, is your maid really important right now?" Jaehee cut them off irritably.  
"Guess not."   
Now he knew the hint was safe, he sent the message. 

He prayed his friend would be able to get to them quickly. As much as it seemed an even match on the surface, everyone against a clone of themselves, in reality that just wasn't the case. If the red RFA were all violent criminals as M.C. said, and he had every reason to believe her, then they knew how to fight. His RFA did not. Sure Jaehee had her Judo and Zen his former delinquent status, but that would be nothing compared to those who were experienced in actual fighting. Even the Yoosung of the red RFA, Sungie, had a slight muscle definition that proved his edge over the blue RFA version of himself. Not to mention Vs damaged eyesight. If it came down to a fight, they were hopelessly outmatched, despite Luciels combat training. 

Opponents analysed for the millionth time, and SOS sent, he pushed his modified lock down code to the bunkers security system and hit initiate. Next step was to get his friends into the saferoom without raising suspicion. 

He expected to hear (and then explain away) the slam of the metal door covering, he did not expect the voice of his security to call out,  
“Lock down initiated” that wasn't good. He scrolled up in his code and immediately found the issue, he had made a typo in the command to silence her. The room plunged into darkness for a moment as the lock down sequence severed his connection to the electrical grid. For a few moments, the hum of his backup generator starting up was the only sound.   
“Lock down?!” Yoosung looked around as their light restored “What? why?”  
“Unknown must be trying to get into my security system” Luciel lied easily and hopped up, looking to his RFA,"Someone come look with me?"  
“That's funny.” Seven glared “My security wouldn't react like that to a hack. You know why?”  
Zen took the bait, “Why?”  
“Because that would be stupid.” Seven answered “if you're getting hacked and you go into lock down, you will likely be trapped inside. I don't think you're stupid Luciel, so what's the real reason?”

Luciel could've laughed, of course he only meets his match when he meets himself. Before he could answer, Seven was turning to Blue,  
“What did you show him?”  
“A cat picture” Blue was a better liar than Luciel remembered, but not good enough.   
Seven jumped to his feet,  
“You are such a-” his yell was interrupted by Luciel, who had seen the fear flash Blues face and shoved himself between them.  
“Whoa! Guys!” Zen stood and placed a hand on Luciels shoulder. Hyun also stood, shifting forward defensively,  
“Looks like the cats out of the bag.” Mr Han mused. Sungie sighed at the announcement,  
“Why'd you have to snitch, Blue?”

M.C. gulped, shuffling away from them without standing, the other RFA looked at her like a pack of wolves,  
“Let's just talk this out, maybe? She suggested feebly. Another entry added to their list of reasons to make her life hell, given the chance,   
“What the fuck is going on?” Zen looked between the redheads as they stared each other down, ignoring him. Jaehee touched Blues hand gently, eyes flicking to the bruise on her arm. It didn't take much for her to pick up something was horribly wrong.   
“This doesn't need to escalate, let's listen to Blue” Seven said almost mockingly “She's full of good ideas” the end of that was certainly sarcasm, yet he still stepped back from Luciel, who stepped back in turn.

“Perhaps we can reach an agreement.” Mr Han spoke first, leaning toward them all.  
“That's usually a good way to go. Though, I would like to know why we need one first.” Jumin responded, looking to Luciel. Luciel rolled his shoulders back,  
“Well honestly I don't know the complete story myself, or much of anything really. Why don't we share it so we're all on the same page?” all he had to do was buy time for Vanderwood to show up, then they'd be able to take care of this. He shouldn't have messed up such a simple line of code. He had been typing it when Seven talked about Saeran. Holding a sigh, he berated himself, always double check what you wrote after a distraction.   
“Blue, why don't you start us off?” the low tone of Assistant Kangs voice sent a shiver down her spine. M.C. sat there mute under her scorn.  
Hyun scoffed, “So now you can keep your mouth shut?”  
“Let's not get hostile” Jihyun soothed, looking far too jolly for the situation at hand.

Luciel sat himself on the arm of the sofa closest to Blue and dropped the bomb,  
“So.. criminals, huh?”  
“That's right.” Jihyun smiled as he responded. Blue noted she hated that smile more every time she saw it.   
“What?” Zen hissed “What kind?” the rest of the blue RFA were silent, showing different ranges of shock. The temperature of the room seemed to drop several degrees, and M.C. hugged herself for the millionth time in so many days. Why had Luciel locked everyone in with them?! How was that a good idea in any way!?  
“Let's not get into that, yeah?” Sungie shook his head.  
“I think we need to know” Jaehee pushed “This is not something you tell people without explaining”  
“Technically, _we_ didn't tell you.”Assistant Kang retorted, smoothing out her clothes

Blue sank into the sofa as too many eyes fell on her once again.  
“That doesn't explain why we need a deal.” Jumin continued, seemingly unflapped by the revelation. Blue wished for his composure.   
“Put simply. I want us all back in our universe” Mr Han explained “And you all have the resources to help us achieve that.”  
“And we gain, what exactly, for that?” Jumin regarded his counterpart carefully. The tone had suddenly shifted to that of a business negotiation. Not just any negotiation though, one between the best of the best and, well, himself.   
“We'd be gone, causing no trouble for you. No damage to your reputations, properties or... selves” Mr Han shifted the tone once more, effortlessly pulling them with his whim.   
“That's not an offer.” Jumin sat up straighter and folded his arms “You're threatening us”  
“It's both an offer and a threat”  
“Calm down, Mr Han” Jihyun chuckled at the formal name the situation forced him to call his friend “There's no need to be drastic.”

Mr Han glanced at Jihyun,  
“So what do you propose?”  
“Nothing. These seem like good people.” Jihyun pondered aloud “I'm sure they'd help us out if Blue simply asked.”  
M.C. bit her lip. What did Jihyun gain but refuting Mr Hans threat, and then making the same one, just more veiled? Unless he wasn't threatening her at all? It should not be a tall task to figure out but she supposed that her life now was one of uncertainty.   
“And if she doesn't follow along? Will you hurt her again?” Luciel snapped, “Which one of you did that, by the way?”  
Blue looked away, ashamed, she hadn't wanted it to go like this- wasn't even sure she wanted them to find out at all. Not a single thing had gone her way recently. At least she didn't have to see their expressions in that moment. She couldn't help but hear the twist of pain and fury in Zens voice, though,  
“What did you do? Who did it?” None of them admitted anything, of course they wouldn't.   
“Red, did you get hurt too?” Yoosung just sounded sad. Why did that hurt the most?

Blue stole a look at her doppelgänger, who hadn't moved at all. She was silent. Zen vaulted to his feet,   
“You can't just- I can't believe- How could-” He caught himself, stamping as he found the words he wanted to say most “Who. Did. It.”  
Hyun smirked at him, “Why? What are you gonna do about it, pretty boy?”  
Zen made an almost primal sound, “I'll-”  
“Zen don't!” Blue spoke only just loud enough to cut him off, shrinking back into herself as soon as she had.   
“M.C....” he looked at her with such misery and all she could do was shake her head. He had no idea what they were capable of, and she would do anything to make sure he never found out.

Seven scoffed, seeming more amused than anything else,  
“So that's why you've been a fucking prima donna, Blue”  
“It's funny, in a strange way” Assistant Kang looked at Jaehee carefully, stretching ever so slightly.  
“Are all of you at her beck and call, too?” Mr Han flicked some dust from his sleeve as he spoke.  
“I don't think we're getting anywhere with this.” Sungie shrugged and shifted in his seat, almost as though he was preparing for something.  
“Agreed.” With a single word Jihyun seemed to set off something electric within the red RFA.  
“I'm glad we've finally figured that out” Hyun grinned, turning back to Zen “Don't worry, you don't have to disobey her” he winked mockingly “I'll start us off instead”


	33. Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence

The thud of a fist hitting flesh was louder on Zens toned muscle than it would be on a softer stomach. He stumbled back, surprised at the sudden attack. He quickly regained himself enough to return the blow, only to be blocked. Instead he shoved Hyun back and used the moment to actually land the intended punch on him. Hyun grunted and kicked at him, they separated and stared each other down, daring the other to make the next move. The rest of the blue RFA couldn't so much as watch, let alone stop the fight, as the red RFA had moved as one the moment the first punch was thrown. Each one targeted their counterpart.

V was the first to lose. His damaged eyesight reducing his reaction time enough for his seasoned kidnapper of a double to get a hold on him. They fell back onto the sofa together as V tried in vain to free himself from the grip, knocking the side table over as he did. The lamp shattered loudly. Unfortunately, Jihyun was used to dealing with those far more desperate than him to get away and he easily kept him in place. Typically, Jihyun would have everything he needed to hand but since he had been unprepared for this, admittedly unpredictable, event he had no way to tie his foe. He resigned to wait for the others to finish, leaning his weight on V and watching the spectacle around him. 

Mr Han was next to win, he would've been the first had it not been for his reluctance to get his hands dirty. Resigning that, what must be done must be done and hoping he wouldn't be forced into anything drastic, he approached Jumin. The latter backed away, unsure how to react. He had forgone any self-defence classes taken by other heirs for favour of simply hiring body guards, a decision he now deeply regretted. Producing a gun from his blazer, Mr Han aimed it at the other with practised movements, raising his eyebrows. Having never been in such a situation before, and knowing no one could help him in that moment, Jumin made the wise decision to hold his hands up in surrender. 

Running away gave Yoosung some time over the others, but he quickly found his arm caught and twisted painfully. Contorting to ease the pain he shoved Sungie away and was able to yank his arm back and rush backwards, watching Sungie the entire time. He cursed himself for not paying more attention to where he was going when his back quite literally hit a wall. He scooted sideways, trying to put more distance between them. Sungie stalked towards him slowly, sure his target could no longer get away. The lull in action pulled half of Yoosungs focus to his friends. They needed help! He had to do something, he just had to shake Sungie first. 

His lapse in concentration allowed Sungie to close the gap between them. Yoosung yelped and tried to get around him, only to be forced back against the wall by the shoulders. Yoosung kicked at him, but his leg made no meaningful connection. He froze as Sungies forearm pressed against his throat, restricting, but not totally removing his air supply. Dulled purple bore into his bright eyes,  
“We could've been friends ya'know” Sungie huffed in disappointment as he held him trapped. Yoosung ignored him, attention falling on Jaehee as she came up against Assistant Kang. He'd gotten caught without doing anything that helped his friends. He failed. 

Jaehee and Assistant Kang circled one another slowly, both entirely focussed on the other. Jaehee knew her own ability very well and based on the way Assistant Kang moved, the other had more experience than her. On skill alone she would lose. A check of the room was unnecessary, she already knew no one could help her, but she did it anyway just in case. No, no help was coming, as expected. Her only hope here was to surprise her opponent, and she could only do that if she was underestimated or acted unexpectedly. Jaehee sighed quietly, leaving things to chance was not her nature, but there was nothing else to be done. 

Jaehee surged forwards and got a grip on Assistant Kangs blouse. This was her one chance and she used it to her full advantage, sweeping the leg and sending the other woman down to the floor. Assistant Kang rolled to jump up but Jaehee fell on her, grabbing her arm and pulling it behind her back. Yoosung held his breath as he watched, Jaehee could do this! However, Assistant Kang was not one to be defeated so easily, twisting to wrap her legs around Jaehees neck and slam her to the ground. Jaehees yellow clip fell from her hair at the impact and skid a short distance. 

Jaehee had lost the advantage she had made for herself and Yoosung quickly lost track of who was who as he watched the women wrestle. Meanwhile, Sungie was looking around for a better way to secure him in place, not finding a lot off the bat. Yoosung didn't care. What he wanted was his friends unharmed, but it was hard when he couldn't figure out who exactly to root for. Then, Assistant Kang revealed herself with a dirty trick, one Yoosung was sure Jaehhe would never pull. She poked her in the eyes. His blood boiled as Jaehee cried out and went down. Assistant Kang seized the moment to get her locked in place. Next she reached over and affixed the clip back to Jaehees hair. A move that Yoosung could see no point to, other than arrogance. 

Red took a second longer than the others to strike, that with Blues general paranoia at this situation let Blue sprint away to the kitchen before she was grabbed. They tumbled to the floor and Blue was able to slip from the hold and scramble away a little further. A hand on her leg yanked her back towards Red, her lack of combat experience compared to her RFA showing in the clumsy action. Blue yelped as Red carelessly slammed her whole weight on her stomach.  
“Why are you doing this?” Blue whispered “They're terrible to you, to us, don't you wanna get away?”  
“Unlike you, I've learnt to not piss them off” she hissed in return, reaching to grab her arms “And they're obviously going to win.”  
“I wouldn't sell you out like this.” Blue stared at her other in betrayal.  
“Then you're an idiot.” Red seemingly had no sympathy for her, despite their shared plight. 

The statement immediately set Reds designation in Blues mind from 'Friend' to 'Foe'. Where she had previously tried to escape simply from the instinctual reaction to the events, fear was now in the drivers seat. As Red tried to turn her over for a better hold, she seized the opening to draw a leg up and kick her off. She fell back with a yell and Blue was able to get to her feet and stumble away. She didn't make it far, Red slamming into her back and throwing them both down again, they grappled against one another with matching desperation. Red grabbed a fistful of hair and smashed Blues head down, dazing her. Finally, Red could get her pinned. 

Zen and Hyun had continued their battle while this was going on. They panted at one another, Zen glaring while Hyun smirked. Hyun was well aware that he could've ended this already. A quick jab to the temple and Zen would be out for the count but he just could not bring himself to damage such a perfect face.  
“We'd be so popular as twins” Hyun mused, “But could the world handle double the beauty?”  
“Please. You have an ugly soul. People would figure that out quick.” Zen shot back angrily. Hyun laughed and was rewarded with a kick for the action. With a growl, he returned the favour,  
“Now now. Can you really be so high and mighty? I can tell you know how to fight, so you're not as pure as you claim.”  
“I spent some time in a gang. Nothing major.” Zen didn't shy from his past, “We never actively harmed anyone.”  
Hyun hummed, clearly unconvinced. Zen swung for him again, fed up with the talking. 

The blow landed, wiping the smirk from Hyuns face, much to Zens satisfaction. Blood trickled down from Hyuns nose, the injury from the heist aggravated again at the hit. He wiped it away, narrowing his eyes,  
“Alright. We're done playing.” The next few punches came in quick succession, with brutal force. He still avoided the face, but he didn't need it now he was determined to end this. Zen resisted the instinct to double over at the pain, but not enough. Hyun grabbed the back of his head and shoved down, pushing all his weight onto him. Zen fell forward and Hyun wasted no time in sitting firmly on his shoulder blades. He pulled his belt off and securely fastened the others arms behind his back. Like this, Zen could flail his legs all he wanted, and he'd make no contact, nor could he stand. Hyun had won. He shifted to get comfortable and watched Seven and Luciel duke it out. 

Luciel had miscalculated. He hadn't meant his comment to escalate to a fight but he was just so furious at the thought of them hurting M.C. and the casual way they threatened her. Breaking Sevens glasses didn't totally cool him off, but he did feel a little better for it. Plus it helped him somewhat, knowing just how poor Sevens eyesight was without their help. None the less Seven blocked the oncoming hit and stepped in closer, head butting Luciel on the chin. He grunted, tasting blood, and swiped his tongue over his teeth. None seemed broken. 

Luciel didn't let it distract him for long, wrapping a leg around Sevens and hoisting. He leaned his weight forward as he did so, and sent them both down. He landed on top and, with trained movements, got Seven into an effective pin position. Luciel ignored Sevens angry struggling and spit curses as he looked to the others, defeated. It wouldn't be easy, but if he could keep it one on one he could turn the tide and free his friends. Then he'd be able to get them into the safe room as planned. 

He opted to pick his first target before tying Seven, that way he could launch immediately. Logically, he should go for the biggest threat, which meant Hyun. Wait- where had he gone? Strong arms wrapping around him and lifting him up answered the question. Surprised, he twisted out of the hold but Seven had already regained his feet and turned back to continue to attack. Together, Hyun and Seven wrested Luciel to the ground and got him tied enough to immobilise.  
“You're the only one who needed help, Seven~” Hyun taunted.  
“Shut it. I can barely see” he huffed in response, stealing Luciels glasses for himself “Besides, this one's combat trained.”  
“Government?” Hyun asked, examining the bound red head.  
“Nah don't think so.” Seven shrugged.  
“Guys!” Sungie called to them “Maybe help us get the others tied first?”  
“Yeah, alright.” Seven grinned at him “If this place is the same as mine, there's some zip-ties in the cupboard.”

Zip-ties found, Seven and Hyun passed them out to the rest of the red RFA and helped them secure their, now captive, doppelgängers.  
“Hey, Assistant Kang?” Sungie tilted his head at her “Why'd you gag Jaehee?”  
She took a few seconds to reply, “...She's irritating.”  
“She's not much different from you.” Mr Han noted as the others laughed.  
“No, I get it.” Hyun chuckled even as he defended her “Goody two shoes piss me off too.” Assistant Kang nodded, face stony. 

They laughed a little longer,  
“So what do we do now?” Hyun asked.  
Jihyun hummed thoughtfully “Put them somewhere out of the way while Seven hacks the system to let us out?”  
“The basement will work.” Seven suggested “Where are the M.C.s?” suddenly he worried they might have both decided to hide away, that was the last thing he needed.  
“In here!” Reds voice called from the kitchen “Can someone help me please?”  
“Coming!” Sungie grabbed some ties and head out to her.

Blue tried, she really did, but being already pinned in a two against one situation does not usually lead to an escape. She whimpered as her and the blue RFA were moved to the basement. 

Once again she was in the red RFAs clutches, and this time they had her friends too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry updates are a little slower at the moment!  
> I have writers block, which is annoying since the scenes I'm writing now I've been thinking about since the beginning of this. Like I've known this is what I was building to the entire time and suddenly the images in my head won't become words on the page. Ugh.  
> But I'm determined to finish this dammit! We will get there!
> 
> Thank you all for the continued support and stay safe! <3


	34. Criminals

It took some rearranging of furniture, but the red RFA managed to secure each of their counterparts on the floor of the basement. There would be no moving around the room, and they were sure to keep enough distance between them so they couldn't somehow untie one another.  
“You can all cool off down here,” Seven taunted before grabbing Blue by the chin and forcing her to look at him “We need to decide what to do with you.”  
She cringed away from him and after, what must have been a shorter time than it seemed, he let her go, leaving her and her friends alone in the basement.

The only sounds for the first few moments were the shuffles of fruitless attempts to escape the restraints. M.C. called to the others,  
“I'm so sorry guys” her voice shook “This wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted to get away from them”  
“Woah, hey! This isn't your fault at all. Don't apologise” Yoosung reassured her, hoping she couldn't see the tears in his eyes in the dim light.  
“What did they do to you M.C.?” Zen masked his anger in his voice, but all he wanted to do was get free and make them pay.  
M.C. trembled, “I- They-”  
“You don't have to talk about it” Luciel mercifully cut her off “Can you at least tell us what they do?”

M.C. chewed her lip for a moment before deciding that it had already got this far. They could hardly punish her more than they were already planning.  
“Well... Red is a catfish and scams people. She was kinda tricked into joining them... its complicated. She not really a bad guy, I think she's just scared of them.”  
Yoosung wasn't convinced, “But she still grabbed you for them, didn't she? You could've both got away if she hadn't”  
M.C. sighed and nodded, so much for the solidarity she thought they had. Luciel wished he could see everyone's faces, rather than the blur he had now, without his glasses, he'd be better able to gauge how everyone was doing. For now he'd have to go off their voices, no one seemed completely freaked yet, a little scared yes but that was understandable, they were taking it well, much to his relief. He'd need them all to be able to focus once Vanderwood showed up.  
“That's ironic, I had to check you weren't a catfish when you first joined, M.C.” Luciel made an effort to keep the mood light.  
Jumin didn't catch the joke, “We had to be safe, but some of us couldn't help but show off immediately.”  
“Well excuse me for introducing myself. Honestly, I don't know how you manage to make business connections when you're so aloof. Or are all trust funds the same?” Zen retorted.   
“There's no need to throw jabs at each other.” V stepped in, “M.C., you were saying?”

Sensing the brewing argument, M.C. quickly continued, “Sungie is a black market dealer mostly, but from some of the things I heard he's got a bit of a stalking problem too.”  
Despite everything, Luciel snickered “I always said you could be a bit of a yandere.”  
“That's not funny!” Yoosung protested, slumping back against the wall, “It's terrible”  
“There's worse things to be, however.” Jumin's comment seemed strange, but M.C. realised he was probably worrying about what else she might say, with good reason.  
“It's still horrible.” Zen countered Jumin, “I've had stalkers, it can stop a person feeling safe in their own home.”  
V nodded, “Let's not downplay this. Black market items can also destroy lives.”

M.C. noticed that Jaehee hadn't reacted and looked over to her, she didn't seem to be focusing on the conversation. Instead she was still trying to escape. It was then she saw the strip of cloth covering her mouth.  
“Why would Assistant Kang do that?” she asked, appalled.  
“Something about being annoyed by good people” Zen huffed, clearly also annoyed by the action. M.C. frowned, that didn't seem like Assistant Kang at all. Could she be hiding something?  
“Well there's nothing we can do about it now.” Jumin didn't seem as irritated by it as everyone else “M.C, you were saying?”

M.C. tried to meet Jaehee's eyes for a moment, but couldn't, so she continued, “Sevens a hacker too, does a lot with malware. He locked up a hospitals systems with ransomware last week.”  
Yoosung tilted his head, not understanding the weight of the words “So, not much different from ours then?”  
Luciel shook his head and sucked in a breath as if he had been struck, “No, I would never attack a hospital. That could get innocent people killed”  
Yoosung blinked and looked away, ashamed of his ignorance.  
V sagged in place “To go for a hospital is...”  
“despicable” Jumin finished his sentence, the weight of her words seemed to settle on everyone.  
“That could even get children killed...” Zen spat angrily.

The quiet that hung in the room was too much for M.C., she found once again that now she had started, she couldn't stop,  
“Assistant Kang is a hitwoman” the silence continued for a moment, but this one was more of shock than anger.  
“No way” Zen was the first to break.  
“That's just-” Yoosung bobbed his head randomly, too stunned to finish the sentence.  
“It fits... attention to detail and whatever. But jeez...” Even Luciel was at a loss for words  
“No way” Zen said again.  
Jumin shifted in place, eyes wide with surprise, but he hid it when he spoke,  
“Does she work for the other me?”  
V's head whipped round towards the direction of his voice “Does it matter. It's awful regardless!” His voice shook.  
“Yes, she does.” M.C. answered the question despite the outburst “Both in legal and illegal stuff”

Jumin considered this a moment, “Legal?”  
“He's the chairman of C&R, same as you. As far as I can tell” M.C. explained. This seemed to take Jumin aback. M.C. supposed that knowing they had the same role bought all of this a little too close to home. “And the illegal side?”  
She looked at him in a way she hoped was comforting, because if he was now associating himself with the other him, this wasn't going to be nice to hear.  
“Human trafficking.”  
Jumin balked and turned away. Jaehee still hadn't reacted to any of this ,and it was even getting to Jumin... was she okay?  
“What happens to them?” V's voice was barely above a whisper.  
“I don't know. He doesn't either.” M.C. shook her head, leaning against the cool wall behind her, the rope scratched her wrists painfully as she moved.  
“He already has more than he needs, and he chooses to make other peoples life hell for profit.” Zen was straining in place as he spoke, a renewed escape attempt.  
“Anything could be happening to those people...” Yoosung tried to steel himself, but the tears in his eyes were very close to falling now.  
“I busted a human trafficking ring in the past.” Luciel's shoulders had hunched “The people we got out were just... hollow. How do they tolerate him?”

“You think any of them care about suffering!?” M.C snapped “Seven shot someone right in front of me, Sungie had bodies to hide. Wouldn't surprise me if Mr Han is directly responsible for some deaths too, and not just a result of his 'business ventures'” part of her knew this sudden anger was fuelled by her own guilt of supplying him with an innocent person, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it.  
All eyes fell on her, and then a jumble of apologies and comfort. She cut them off irritably,  
“Do none of you understand?! All of them are killers. God knows what they're planning to do with us! I'm surprised we're all still alive as it is”  
“Do you think they'll sell us?” Yoosung trembled in place.  
“No. We know too much” M.C. was quickly cooling off “Sorry to bite your heads off... This is stressful.”  
“It's alright, M.C., you've had it the worst.” V was understanding as ever. “Can you tell us about Hyun and Jihyun?”

She took a breath, “Yeah uh, Hyun runs a red room.”  
“What's that?” Zen asked, wondering if it was anything similar to a green room in theatre.  
“A torture chamber, people pay to watch the livestream of him...doing that” M.C. explained shortly, growing pale at the memory “I saw one before I knew what it was...”  
“Fuck.” was all Zen could muster, giving up his escape attempt.  
“Good lord...” Vs response was more censored  
“This is really bad” Yoosung struggled with his restraints a little, but was already feeling hopeless.  
Jumin let out a breath, trying to keep himself level-headed.  
Luciel closed his eyes and said muttered a short prayer for the safety of his friends.

M.C. continued after the knowledge settled“And Jihyun-” her whole body seized “Oh god. Guys if they decide he can have me, please kill me first”  
“What... WHAT!?”  
“You can't just ask that!”  
“Why would you say that?!”  
She couldn't tell who had said what, they all spoke simultaneously. Regardless, her attention was on Jaehee, who wasn't looking at her with pity or concern but... curiosity maybe?  
“You don't understand! You can't. You didn't see those girls” M.C. was shrinking down on herself with every desperate word “He cuts off their limbs and tongues. They call him the doll maker. I- I can't end up like that! Please!”

Silence. 

The air thickened with horror and M.C. regretted asking her friends such a thing. She wouldn't have if she was thinking straight but everything was so fucked, how could she? But she meant it. She would rather die than become a doll. Yoosung stopped bothering to hide his tears and let out a sniffle.

“Well... now we have an idea of what we're dealing with” Luciel tried to inject some hope into the situation.  
“Why did you lock us in with them?!” M.C. looked at him open mouthed, it had only just occurred to her to ask.  
“The alarm wasn't supposed to go off. I have a panic room I was going to take you all to.” his tone was apologetic.  
“And then...?”  
“My m-” he paused, they could be being listened to, he didn't want the enemy to know help was on its way, “I'm not sure, I just wanted to get everyone in a safe place first”  
“What are we going to do...?” Yoosung rested his head on the chair beside him, before sitting back up again suddenly “Jaehee, I totally forgot to ask, are your eyes okay?”  
“What happened to her eyes?” M.C. asked, meeting the other woman's gaze with worry.  
“Assistant Kang pulled a dirty move and jabbed her.” Yoosung huffed, forgetting his fear. A sudden emotion flashed across Jaehee's face, directed at Yoosung. It was only momentary, but since M.C. was looking at her so carefully she caught it; indignation. A strange reaction by all accounts, Jaehee had been off the whole time they had been down here. Was she panicking? No. Jaehee was too cool headed for that, so what was going on? Then it clicked,  
“That's not our Jaehee.” M.C. gasped.


	35. Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Torture

“What?!” Luciel whipped around to examine her, even though it was mostly useless without his glasses, “She's got the clip, there's no way!”  
“It fell off when they were fighting...” Yoosung told them, “But M.C. I don't think you're right”  
“No. I'm sure of it.” M.C. was certain, the ice in Assistant Kang's gaze solidifying her assuredness.  
Yoosung shook his head “No way. Jaehee wouldn't have pulled a move like that. She's a good person.”  
“Are you quite sure about that?” Jumin spoke up, “I'm not refuting that she's a good person. However, she has always recognised what needs to be done and carried it out, even if she found it unpleasant.” M.C. blinked in surprise, it wasn't often Jumin would pay Jaehee a compliment.  
“It's not safe for her to be alone with them.” V was not as happy as the rest with this development.  
“They think she's one of them, she's okay.” M.C. tried to reassure him.  
“And if they figure her out?”  
“They'll put her here with us.” M.C. did not add the 'probably' out loud, but she thought it. 

Meanwhile, Jaehee sat stiffly upstairs, listening to the red RFA argue about what they were going to do with her friends. To say she was uncomfortable was an understatement. It was a rare occasion where she had absolutely no idea what to do, yet here she was. If Luciel was as paranoid as she knew he was, then there was no way out of the building that he didn't intend, so she couldn't sneak out and get the police. Another option would be to quietly free the others but how cou-  
“Assistant Kang, what do you think?” Mr Han's words broke into her train of thought. What could she say? She absolutely would not offer some terrible thing for her friends, and asking for them to be let go would reveal her immediately.  
“I don't care.” she settled for saying, Mr Han raised an eyebrow but didn't seem to dwell on it, the conversation continued without her.

Sungie shuffled over to her,  
“Hey, are you alright?” he asked, turning away from the others.  
“Just fine.” she avoided his gaze cautiously.   
“You're upset that Blue snitched, huh?” He frowned, “Me too... I thought she liked us”  
Jaehee was quiet for a moment, and decided to simply mirror his sentiment back to him,  
“She betrayed us.”  
“Yeah! I mean seriously!” Sungie huffed and leant heavily against the backrest of the sofa

The bickering continued, with Jaehee still trying to find a smart path to take. Suddenly, it was cut off again as Hyun yelled over everyone's voices,  
“Look! I don't care what you decide for the rest of them but we already agreed that Blue needs to be punished. Let me do it while you all figure out the other stuff!”  
Jaehee stiffened at his words, but the others were certainly considering it.  
“Don't kill her” Sungie piped up.  
“Agreed. I believe we'd all like to bring her back with us.” Mr Han nodded as he spoke.  
“Yeah, but make sure she never does it again.” Seven added, peaking up from behind the laptop screen.  
With a self-satisfied smile, Hyun head to the basement. Jaehee bit her tongue as she watched him go, fear rising to her throat. She had no idea what he might do to her or how to stop it.

With little other option she head to the kitchen. A quick glance to ensure she wasn't being followed or watched preceded her slipping a small, sharp knife into her blazer pocket. Then she grabbed a glass of water and returned to the living room. It wasn't a plan, but now she had a weapon and, hopefully, no suspicion. She felt slightly better. 

By the time she returned, topic of conversation had, briefly, changed.  
“Any luck getting us out, Seven?” Jihyun asked, peering at the screen despite knowing nothing of any coding language. Seven sighed,  
“Not really. He's even put the systems into lock down. I tried to guess the override word for a bit, but he didn't use any that I would. I'm going to have to hack it. Could take days with how hard he's sealed it all.”  
“We could try and got the override from him?” Mr Han suggested.  
“Yeah, but he might have guessed we'd try to force it out of him and setup a fake, which would shut me out completely.” Seven huffed “I'd do that at least.”  
“A few days isn't so bad” Sungie was optimistic as always “I'm sure we have the stuff to last”

At that moment Zen was still pulling against his restraints, as he remembered something from before,  
“Luciel said they hurt you, M.C. what happened?”  
“I don't want to talk about that” Blue shook her head   
“So you'll tell Luciel but not the rest of us? Come on please, I'm worried” Yoosung persisted.  
Luciel was quick to defend her “She didn't tell me. Did you not notice the bruises?”  
“What?!” Yoosung tried his best to see while M.C. shied from his gaze.  
“I really don't think this is the best time to talk about it.” she looked at him pleadingly.  
“Perhaps not, but we can give a live demonstration, hmm?” Blue's blood ran cold as Hyun's voice sounded from the entrance. Through their conversation, she hadn't heard him walk down the stairs.

Slowly, she turned to face him. He leant on the doorway leisurely, that same dark expression on his face from when he had strangled her. M.C. whimpered quietly, in all her panic over Jihyun, she hadn't even considered Hyun getting his hands on her,  
“W-we don't have to do that” She pressed herself against the wall, as far away from him as she could. Nonetheless, he stalked towards her,  
“But where's the fun in that? Besides, you knew this was coming”  
“Hyun, please! I was good, wasn't I? I listened! You don't have to do this!” her begging didn't slow him. He cupped her face almost tenderly yet grinned menacingly,  
“I don't have to, you're right. But I've wanted to since the moment I saw you.” M.C. froze in place, a picture of dread.   
“Don't you hurt her!” Zen yelled, now slamming against his bonds to no avail.

Hyun laughed, and turned to him,  
“And what are you going to do about it?” he hummed in contemplation “you know, usually my audience are captivated, not captive”  
Chuckling at his own joke, he scanned the room. Yoosung gulped as he walked over to him, but he only grabbed the chair he had been leaning on and set it in the centre of the room. Too soon for her liking, he returned to M.C., untying the end of the rope that kept her to the wall, but making sure her hands were still secure behind her back.  
“Don't make this difficult.” he warned as he pulled her to stand, leading her over to the chair.

M.C. was fighting to keep her breathing steady, but couldn't help but tremble with every step.  
“Please! Please don't!” She gasped with every word “I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please!” Hyun didn't pause or slow, pushing her to sit down. Luciel had been content to wait for Vanderwood to show up before acting but this- he absolutely could not sit by and let this happen. Not with the terror in M.C.s voice. The knot around his wrists was expertly done. There was no way he'd be able to untie it, but he'd be a useless agent if he wasn't prepared for such a situation. It took some awkward movements, especially while trying to be subtle, but he was able to loop the wire (hidden in his laces) around the rope and tie it to his other shoe. Now he could use it to saw through the rope, though it would take a while. 

M.C. let out her first sob as Hyun secured her leg to the chair.  
“I haven't even started yet” his tone was teasing as he tied the other. Luciel cursed silently hearing her, wishing he had started his escape sooner. Without his glasses he couldn't gauge when it was safe to move faster without risking getting caught. He'd have to keep it slow for now.   
“Leave her alone!” Yoosung yelled as Hyun freed M.C.'s hands to tie her wrists to the armwrests.  
“Are you all going to shut up, or do I have to gag you like Jaehee?” Hyun's response was pure steel, clamping Yoosung's mouth closed immediately. 

Hyun stepped back and examined his handiwork, leaning in the give a few test tugs. Satisfied, he hummed to himself,  
“Now, I don't have my usual kit, but Seven tells me there should be a toolbox down here somewhere.” M.C. flinched as the heavy box was dropped gracelessly beside her.  
Hyun opened it and examined the contents, nodding, “This'll do.”  
M.C. tried one more time “Please- I'll do anything”  
“I know, but first you'll take your punishment.” his smug amusement only panicked her more. 

She cringed away from his touch as he traced a finger down her arm.  
“I've fantasised about this for so long, and now I can't decide how to start” he mused “Ah! How about this?” Merrily, he picked up a pair of pliers, opening and closing them with a loud snap.  
“Now~ Don't grit your teeth or you'll break them!” he warned in a sing song voice before pressing her hand down with his free one, spreading her fingers out. Quickly, he seized the tip of her fingernail with the pliers and wrenched it out. 

M.C. screamed. 

How could such a small thing be so agonising? It was bearable after the fact, but that initial rip was some of the most terrible pain she had ever felt. What was worse, Hyun was only getting started. He kissed the tip of her finger, sending another spike of pain through the throbbing appendage.  
“That was one! Let's do two!”  
“No! No! NO!” she was ignored. A second rip. A second scream. M.C. thrashed as best she could in place, body acting on it's own to try and escape the cause of the pain. 

Upstairs, Jaehee was trying her best to hide her alarm at the sounds from the basement. She had to do something! Find an excuse to go down there and help them! Once again she felt forced to leave something to chance. Hopefully, enough of the surface personalities of the red RFA were close enough to her friends that this would work.   
“Seven, do you keep spare glasses stored at home?”  
He didn't even look up as he replied, “Uh yeah, I break them all the time. Why?”  
“Well, I think Hyun would like all his audience to be able to see the show properly.”  
“God, you're such a simp. They're in the bedside table, if Luciel doesn't put them somewhere I don't” he shook his head as he told her.   
“Thank you.” Ignoring what she assumed was an insult, she stood and found the room.

It felt wrong to rifle through her friends belongings without permission, but it had to be done. After a few too many attempts, she found a drawer full of glasses cases. Grabbing one, she swiftly headed to the basement, hurrying her steps as another scream rang out.   
“Hey, what's up?” Hyun greeted her casually as she entered, as if he wasn't torturing a woman right infront of her. She held up the case,  
“I thought you'd like everyone to see what was happening.”  
He smiled warmly,  
“You're always so considerate. Go ahead.” 

She tried not to look too concerned as she checked on everyone. The tips of M.C.'s fingers were bloodied, it was a relief she wasn't any worse for wear, and the others didn't seem to be injured. Placing Luciel's glasses on him, she gave him a look, hoping to show that she was his friend. He nodded, he knew. A glance to Hyun ensured his attention was on M.C. and she had her opening to slip the handle of the knife into Luciel's hand. She stepped away from him as soon as he grabbed it. Luciel rejoiced, he could free himself with this in seconds, and he had a weapon, all in one. Not to mention he could see again! He'd have to thank her properly for this, maybe he'd get her a car. 

The time Jaehee had just saved him was crucial, not just to prevent M.C. further pain but also to stop Zen, who was most definitely hurting himself by trying to brute-force from the ropes. His rage was palpable. Zen only had two clear thoughts at that moment. The first was to save M.C.. Then, he'd kill himself. 

He just hoped he'd be the one to survive it.


	36. Recordings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of rape and sexual violence, violence in general, Hyun is a bastard

Vanderwood stared at his phone, angrily rereading the message from Luciel;  
'Miss Vanderwood! SOS! We got some bad guys invading the house! Lock down initiation soon! Override code is the place we met!  
Trust no one who doesn't know that code, even if they look exactly like me! See you soon ;)  
P.S. not a joke, legit calling for help'  
He grit his teeth as the chibi Luciel danced it's way across the screen, chanting 'SOS!' as it went, a different pose struck for every letter. Not only had that idiot got himself into trouble on Vanderwood's day off, he had also been installing programs on his phone without permission, _again_. He was getting tazed for sure. 

First, he had to get the moron out of whatever mess he had got himself into. The amount of paperwork he'd have to fill if he got himself killed would just not be worth it. With that in mind, and a heavy sigh, he got into his car. 

Meanwhile, at his destination of Luciels house, the hostage situation was still in effect. Having successfully delivered the knife and glasses to Luciel, Jaehee passed Hyun on her way out of the room. He grabbed her wrist, her eyes widened in panic as he pulled her carelessly to him. How had he figured her out?! She was just bringing her hands up to defend herself when his lips connected with hers. Heat spread across her cheeks and she let out a very uncharacteristic squeak. He pulled away, grinning,  
“Well, that was cute. I'll meet you upstairs later” All she could manage was a nod in response before trying to look as composed as possible while heading out. The eyes of her friends seemed to burn into her as she went.

Hyun noticed their shock and took a moment to consider this,  
“So surprised? You all must have a different relationship.” He pondered, turning back to M.C., “Am I right, Blue?” She nodded slowly, something in his tone ringing an alarm in her mind. Hyun's grin became menacing as he pulled out his phone,  
“Then you're all going to just love this!” M.C. realised his plan immediately,  
“No! Please don't!” Hyun rolled his eyes as he tapped on the screen,  
“Give it a rest, it clearly won't work”

M.C. scrunched her eyes closed, knowing Hyun had videos of each of them raping her or Red saved only bought the question; Which one would he show? Himself? Or one of the others? She sobbed quietly as the sound of the video he had chosen began. It was Mr Han. She looked up to see who he was showing first and was met with Jumin's abject horror. A glance around the room told her that the others could not connect what they were hearing to anything, for the time being they had no clue what Jumin was seeing. Her eyes met his for a moment and she could only imagine how pitiful she looked in that moment. He shook his head and shifted away from Hyun, looking in another direction.  
“Turn that off” he tried to sound authoritative but sorrow coloured the words. Hyun laughed,  
“Can't handle it? Fine, fine, I'll move on”

Yoosung flinched as Hyun stepped over to him, swiping his phone screen. M.C. prepared herself to hear the same sound once more but was met with... nothing? Yet Yoosung's face told her he must be seeing it, or something similar. Then it clicked, he was being shown Sungie's clip, with Red unconscious it wouldn't make much noise. Hyun was showing them their counterpart's sexual attacks. His talent for inflicting pain wasn't just physical it seemed. 

Yoosung had been trying so hard to keep himself together, sure he had cried a little but he thought he had done well. Then this- this was just too much. How could anyone do that!? To someone as sweet as M.C. no less! He hung his head and wept. This was awful, disgusting, terrible! She was his friend! And he couldn't do anything but sit here and cry. He had failed to protect her, let himself get caught and now she was at their mercy again. Something deep inside him felt like it was breaking. As Hyun smirked at him, that something snapped and suddenly Yoosung felt nothing but rage. How dare he- how dare they do something like this to _his friend_? Tears still tracked his face but they were just remnants now, he glared at Hyun, all his newfound anger condensing into one expression. Hyun blinked at the sudden shift and cleared his throat,  
“Moving on...”

He targeted Assistant Kang next, still unaware that she was from his side.   
“I don't have one personalised for you, wish I did, so my own will have to do!” he spoke as though it was a sneak peak of one of his musicals. She, of course, was unaffected by the footage. Instead, she tried to make herself heard through the gag. M.C.'s blood ran cold even as she cried, if Assistant Kang was able to get Hyun to take the gag off then the jig was up. The consequences for Jaehee would be terrible, not to mention their only current hope would be extinguished.   
“Hmm? What was that?” Hyun cupped his ear tauntingly, “You got a problem with this?” She continued to make muffled noises and the blue RFA collectively held their breath as he reached up to the knot of the fabric. He held it there for a moment before smirking again,  
“Nah, Assistant Kang wouldn't like it.” he blew her a kiss “as much as I would love to hear your pretty little protests”  
Assistant Kang tried a few more times, now noticeably frustrated, but soon gave up. 

Hyun moved on, settling himself in front of V,  
“I also don't have one for you, but I don't mind that as much.” The sound played again, “Can you even see it? Here, I'll hold it close.” V didn't react for a short while, as he figured out the unclear images before his damaged eyes.   
“What is wrong with you?” He finally gasped, wrenching himself as far away from the screen as possible. Zen and Luciel glanced at one another with concern, now the only two in the room out of the loop. Both dreaded what they'd see, based on their friend's reactions, but Luciel was glad Hyun would come close to show him. Now he had freed his hands, it would be the perfect moment for a surprise attack.   
“That's terrible. You're terrible.” V shook his head as if trying to shake the video off.  
“It's rude to call someone names you know.” Hyun tutted, clearly underwhelmed by the reaction. 

Hyun quickly moved on to Zen, seemingly excited to show the one who had been so vocally angry about his actions.  
“I think you especially will have fun with this one!” he smiled and the sound of the Hyun's clip of himself played for the third time in a row.   
It only took moments for Zen to explode, “YOU BASTARD! I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOU!” and Hyun had to jump back as he slammed against his restraints again. He only narrowly avoided a headbutt from Zen, barely. Now at a safe distanced, he laughed at his counterparts thrashing and yelled threats,  
“Oh so upset” he feigned concern, “Would it help if I told you she liked it?” Zen slowed, apparently tiring himself out,  
“You're lying” he spat.  
“Not at all! Of course not this first one, but later she decided to stop being a bitch about it. Isn't that right, Blue?” He looked over his shoulder to her. She made no response.  
“I asked you a question.” His voice dropped an octave and she quickly shook her head.  
“Why lie? Worried they'll get jealous?” Hyun shrugged, “You even p-”  
“Stop it!” she interrupted him, sobs doubling in intensity.  
“What? Putting a condom on for me is nothing to be ashamed of. On the other hand, riding me the way you di-”  
“I said stop!” she yelled over him

Luciel's head snapped up as the penny dropped and he realised what Hyun had been showing everyone. He resisted the urge to attack Hyun then and there, knowing he'd have a higher advantage the closer he was.   
Blue shut her mouth as Hyun glared at her, he held her gaze for a few agonising seconds,  
“I'll just show him that lovely picture then.” M.C. looked away, unwilling to see Zen's face as Hyun pulled up the nude photo he had taken of her. Hearing no reacting from him, she wondered if she had misunderstood Hyun and looked up once more, but no, she was right the first time. Zen sat stone faced and jaw clenched, seemingly staring into the distance as Hyun chuckled, shifting over to Luciel. 

“Last but not least, your little show!” Hyun hummed, playing the clip. Luciel caught a glimpse of Seven and M.C. on the screen before he lunged, punching him square in the jaw. Caught off guard, Hyun fell back and Luciel wasted no time trying to get him pinned. As they struggled, M.C. realised that Hyun was going to call for help, and did the only thing she could. She screamed, trying to sound as pained as if she were being tortured again. Hyun's call was drowned out and Luciel was able to clamp his knife-free hand over his mouth. He had the upper hand and was able to complete the pin while keeping Hyun silent. 

Luciel puffed a breath as he held him down,  
“Good thinking, M.C. that nearly went very wrong.”   
“Where did you get a knife?” Jumin asked.  
“Jaehee. When she gave me my glasses.” Luciel answered, realising he had nothing within reach to tie his captive. He looked around,  
“Zen, come over here as much as you can.” Silently, he did as asked, and Luciel was able to carefully lean over, making sure not to give Hyun an opening to escape. He cut one of Zen's hands free and handed him the knife before firmly returning to a proper hold. He couldn't help but notice how badly Zen had bruised his wrists, and likely higher up his arms too, in his escape attempts. 

Zen freed his over hand and stood up, eyes fixed on Hyun and knuckles white around the handle of the knife.  
“Easy Zen, let's make all of our friends as safe as possible first, yeah?” Luciel soothed as best he could, “Could you get me some of the rope? Then we'll tie this fucker up good” Zen nodded a brought the rope over. Together the two tied and gagged the furious Hyun as he fought against them. Finally, they set him in Zen's spot. As they did, M.C. could almost physically feel her hope growing as the odds stacked more in their favour. 

Two of the red RFA were tied are and three of the blue RFA were now free. 

As soon as Hyun was firmly secured, Zen rushed over to M.C. and held the knife to her ropes.  
“Hold it!” Luciel stopped him just as he was going to cut them away “It'll be too obvious if one of them comes down here.”  
“I'm not leaving her like this!” Zen shot back. Luciel flinched, gesturing him to not speak so loud, in case those upstairs heard them,  
“If one of them comes down and sees her untied they'll raise the alarm so fast. I have a plan, please trust me.”  
“It's okay, Zen. Luciel's right.” M.C. reassured him, though she wasn't sure how convincing it was with the sobbing state she was in. He sighed, wiping her face gently,  
“Fine. But M.C. did they really...?” She nodded,  
“Most of those videos are Red, not me. But yeah, they did”  
“I'm so sorry.” Jumin spoke up, “If I had known I would have... I don't know, done something more to make sure this didn't happen.” Zen nodded in agreement and hugged her the best he could around the chair she was tied to.   
“Me too.” V added. “I'm sorry, M.C.”  
“So am I” Luciel chimed in.  
“They're going to pay.” Yoosung's tone was dark, and everyone looked at him in surprise.  
“None of you are to blame.” M.C. pulled their attention back, “Let's just get away from them, please?”

Zen rolled his shoulders as if preparing himself,  
“Yeah, let's do that. What's your plan, Luciel?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, so sorry this took so long. This chapter has pretty tricky to get done, everyone's emotions and reactions were very difficult and my mental health hasn't been great because my housemate tested positive for Covid so I've been stuck inside quarantined for what feels like forever. Not to mention I'm getting sick so I'm getting tested for it tomorrow. Don't worry, I'm not really unwell, just some coughing, sore throat and headaches at the moment. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoyed, it's good to be back!


	37. Replacements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence, references to torture

“I called my maid to come and help us, she should get here soon.” Luciel began to explain, “While we wait, we replace as many of them as we can. Only if they come down here alone. It's too risky with more than one and I'll whistle when it's the right moment. Then, when Miss Vanderwood arrives, we drop the pretence and take the place back with the upper hand!”  
“Your maid? I doubt she's qualified or paid enough for a situation like this.” Jumin frowned at him.  
“Trust me, she is.” Luciel assured them, to questioning looks about the true nature of this 'maid'.  
“Alright, I think it's a good bet.” Zen agreed to the plan, with the others nodding along.  
“Awesome.” Luciel plucked the hairclip from Zen's hair and walked over to fix it to Hyun's. “Then our best actor better get himself into character.”  
“I'm not going to like playing that bastard.” he sighed.  
“We don't have any other option” Luciel returned to him and pat him on the shoulder “You bruised your arms up pretty bad, are you okay?”  
“I'm fine.”  
“If you say so... Just keep it hidden, yeah? I'm gonna pretend to be tied up” with that, Luciel returned to his place, hiding the knife behind him.  
“You're not going to untie us?” Yoosung asked, voice oddly cold. Luciel shook his head,  
“If they check you, you won't be able to get them down fast enough, if at all. Best that I'm the only suspicious one.”  
Gritting his teeth, Yoosung looked away from him, not pushing further. Luciel was right after all, he was weak, but he'd do better, just as soon as he got the chance.

Zen paced the room as they fell into silence, stopping to bob his head from side to side and occasionally stretch. It wasn't long before a second set of footsteps sounded alongside his, and everyone looked to the door in nervous anticipation for who would enter. 

Mr Han strode into the room and cast a disinterested look across them all,  
“I thought you were busy down here, not standing about.” his eyes fell on Zen, “Don't tell me, after you insisted to come here, that you're slacking off?”  
“I'm not.” Zen folded his arms in defiance, as he found his next words, settling for echoing Hyun's earlier complaint, “I don't have my usual kit, I'm thinking of something interesting to do.”  
“It sounded like you had something effective earlier. Thank you for shutting him up, by the way.” Mr Han mused, nodding towards Hyun, “What were you doing that riled him up so much?”  
“I showed them my video collection.” It was difficult not to grind his teeth at the thought of it, but Zen was a professional, and he sure as hell wasn't going to fuck up with his friends lives on the line.  
“Ah, he was jealous.”  
“No. It's never been like that with any of them” Zen's response was a little too quick, he reigned it in, “So I'm told.”

Mr Han considered this a moment, approaching M.C.. She pressed herself as far into the chair as she could in a useless attempt to keep distance from him. Zen, unable to force himself to stay in place, walked over after him, and leant on the side of the chair. It was enough to satisfy his need to protect her while he waited for Luciel's signal.  
“Is that true, M.C.? None of them?” Mr Han stooped to bring his face to her eye level as he asked. Knowing better than to ignore him, she nodded.  
“In that case...” he thought aloud, “If I go by the dates Seven gave us, I believe I was her first within the RFA. Would you say so, Hyun?”  
Zen visibly stiffened, looking away, “I don't know, I wasn't counting.”  
Mr Han gave a short laugh, “Jealous?”  
“No.” This was all wrong. Usually when he was acting, Zen was in a good mood, his current anger was throwing him off. ”Do you have any reason to be down here?” Luckily, evil trust fund kid seemed to expect the hostility.  
“Yes actually,” Mr Han began, “Blue, Jihyun lied to us all earlier, when we were talking about Saeran. It seems to me you know why.”  
“I have no idea what you're talking about.” she lied, willing herself to be convincing. 

Mr Han shook his head slowly, “Yes you do. Make no mistake, I will find out.” Alarms rang in M.C.'s head, she absolutely positively could not let him find out about Rika. That determination let the next reckless words fall from her mouth,  
“Does it matter, you all lie to each other all the time. Or did you already forget about your little lie?”  
For a moment it seemed like he might reel back and hit her, but he held the urge, the idea of something far more damaging than a simple strike flashing behind his eyes. Zen was just realising that the character he was playing would want to know more about Blue's statement, when Mr Han changed the subject back to the previous one,  
“So Hyun, you're not jealous that I had her before you? Not at all?" Zen shook his head. Unconvinced, Mr Han continued, "How about with this one then?” Zen frowned at him in confusion as Mr Han moved. Placing his hands on the armrests, he leaned in closer, nose inches from M.C.'s. As she cringed away from him, he spoke lowly, “Given this new information, I think I can safely assume I was your first _ever_ , am I right?” The way M.C's breath caught confirmed it and he smirked, standing up,“You should have said something, I would have made more of an occasion of it.”

Before M.C. could even widen her eyes Zen's fist connected with his temple, sending him sprawling with his rage concentrated into the single attack. By the way he flopped, it was clear Mr Han was unconscious before he had even hit the ground.  
“Fuck, Zen! I didn't signal yet.” Luciel gasped, mostly out of surprise for the one hit knock-out than any annoyance of the already ignored plan.  
“And when were you going to? I had so many opportunities.” Zen turned to him, raising his hands in question.  
“I wanted him to come a little closer to me so I could get over there faster.” Luciel stood to release Jumin.  
“I didn't need your help.” Zen pointed out, lifting Mr Han carelessly to set him in Jumin's place.  
“No, but let's not take the risk please.” V joined the conversation, “Luciel is the expert here and it's too dangerous. Wait next time.”  
“Fine. I feel a lot better now anyway.” Zen gave in. It was true, sending that punch had rid him of the majority of his anger. His head had cleared and he felt much more confident in his ability to pass as Hyun. 

As Luciel and Zen worked, tying and gagging Mr Han, Jumin stepped back from them, crossing his arms.  
“A slight snag in the plan. I'm not entirely sure I can do this.” he admitted, stepping in to affix his clip to the unconscious man's tie.  
“It's not hard,” Zen shrugged, “Just be yourself but more of a dick.”  
“That's easy for you to say, you act for a living.” Jumin took a few steps backwards, cool demeanour slipping, “What if I give us away? Everything will go to shit again.”  
Seeing his apprehension, Luciel made an effort to take some weight from his shoulders, “If you stay down here, you won't have to interact with them much. Besides any extra hand taking them down is a good thing.”  
“I won't be any good in a fight, either” Jumin sighed.  
“Then you can help us hold them or block the door. It's going to be fine.” Luciel reassured.

Seeing Jumin falter so uncharacteristically pulled at M.C's heart,  
“Hey, we're going to get through this.” She gazed up at him with genuine hope, their situation was rapidly improving, after all. His shoulders fell slightly and he stepped over to her, placing a hand on her arm gently. He took a moment, and a breath, before nodding. Head held high once more, he straightened his clothing. 

“There's another problem with the plan. A bigger one.” Yoosung noted, little emotion in his voice. “V.”  
“Is now really the time for your-” Jumin began to chastise, but was cut off.  
“No, he's right. I can't pretend I can see.” V agreed with Yoosung.  
“I'm an issue too.” M.C. added “Unless we steal Red's clothes... and let's not do that to her. Especially not with what she's been through.” The mood sobered again at the reminder of the videos, before M.C. continued, “Even if we did, my injuries would give me away.”  
“That only puts us two down. It's not a bad a setback” Luciel's last word was punctuated by another set of approaching footsteps. He quickly and quietly retreated to his spot on the floor as Zen and Jumin tried to look natural.

Jihyun entered the room smiling,  
“Awfully quiet down here.”  
Zen huffed, kicking the toolbox derisively, “I want my kit, not improvised stuff.”  
Jihyun chuckled lightly, “Really? You've gotten spoilt in recent years. You used to improvise so well” he hummed to himself. “Remember the first video we saw of him, Mr Han?” Jumin looked at him blankly, giving a slight head shake after a moment.  
“What?! Oh come on, it was excellent! He had nothing but a switch-blade and a brick, but he still put on such a show.”  
“Right. Of course, that one.” Jumin nodded. Zen jumped in to cover the less than stellar performance,  
“But, Jihyun, I don't have brick.” he lamented with intentionally comical drama. The joke seemed it would fit Hyun's character, at least. Jihyun laughed heartily,  
“You know what I meant.” 

He turned to face the rest of the room,  
“And how are our friends?” the silent response didn't faze him as he poked Mr Han's unconcious form with his foot, “What happened here?”  
“He pissed me off so I punched him.” Zen didn't even have to lie, “Looks like being Mr Chairman makes you soft” Jumin scoffed at him,  
“Some of us have better things to do than lift weights.”  
“Oh don't bicker.” Jihyun stepped in and swiftly changed the subject, “I was hoping to speak with Blue.”  
“Well she's right here” Zen gestured to her.  
“Yes, and she didn't answer my question!” he walked past Zen and Jumin to examine M.C., who watched his every movement like a deer would a hunter.  
“I... would rather not be tied up.” she answered as neutrally as she could without lying, flinching as he poked at her bloodied hand.  
“Just the fingernails, Hyun?” he asked, back turned to the both of Zen and Jumin.  
“Yeah.” Zen looked to Luciel, raising his eyebrows. He shook his head subtly in response.  
“Hmm.” Jihyun's focus stayed on M.C.'s hand “I actually wanted a private conversation.” M.C.'s body locked up at that. Private? With him? No! She begged with her eyes for her friends to make sure that didn't happen. It couldn't happen, it mustn't. Please don't let him!  
“How did you plan to do that?” Jumin asked, “Carry her upstairs?”  
“No, just drag her to the far corner and then you two can go up yourselves.”

Zen moved slowly to complete the request, glancing to Jumin with worry. M.C.'s previous request weighing his arms down, but with no way to refute Jihyun without causing suspicion he complied. The absolute terror on her face was agonising.  
“Thank you!” Jihyun smiled, “I'll let you know when I'm done.” 

Jumin and Zen, had nothing to stall and still no signal from Luciel, so with a final look to him which said 'You better know what you're doing', they climbed the basement steps.

M.C. was left staring up at the Doll Maker.


	38. Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild violence

Vanderwood pulled up a short distance from Luciel's house, hiding his car expertly. He crept his way to the garage door, waiting outside for now. As training told him, establish a plan before entering. Opening his phone, he attempted to connect to the home's network, but was met with the lock down screen. He sighed and tapped in the override, finally being allowed in. He checked the cameras. Luciel sat in the living room, working on a laptop, surrounded by 4... no 5 people Vanderwood didn't recognise. Hostiles? Luciel had said the house was being invaded after all. He switched between the different feeds to see if anyone else was in another room. 8 more were found in the basement, 7 of whom were bound. An obvious peculiarity was that every tied up individual had a twin that was free. Now Luciel's text made a lot of sense. At least the idiot had given him a way to tell who he was, but it would require talking to one of them. 

The safe bet was to start with the tied one, that way if it was the wrong one he wouldn't need to be subdued. The problem with that was getting to the basement without the others spotting him. Vanderwood overrode the garage door and quietly edged in, hiding himself behind the car closest to the door into the house. He'd have to watch the cameras for the right moment to slip inside.

Jihyun looked M.C. over carefully,  
“I was expecting you to be in worse condition than this already.” he mused “Hyun must've been distracted by the others.”  
M.C. just looked at him, unable to produce any response. Her whole body was screaming to run, but being unable to move just left her shifting and struggling uselessly against the ropes.  
“Anyway,” Jihyun continued quietly, still smiling, “That's not what I wanted to speak with you about. You met someone didn't you? Want to tell me who you met when you ran off?”  
“Saeran... you know that already.” of course this was where this was going, though M.C. could not figure out his goal. It was obvious he already knew she met Rika, why ask about it?  
“And you know that that's not who I'm asking about. Who was with him?”  
M.C. didn't reply, despite knowing he knew, she had made a promise to herself not to sell out Rika. Jihyun laughed,  
“You know, your reluctance to answer actually makes me very happy. Perhaps you'll continue to show her the loyalty that you didn't give us.”

M.C.'s stomach dropped so fiercely she worried she might vomit. Not loyal. He said it. She was a doll candidate now. Of course she was! He was just assessing her 'condition' after all. Fuck! Not now! Not ever, but especially not while her friends watched! Her chin dropped to her chest as she struggled to breathe. He cupped her chin and lifted her head to face him again. Her skin crawled under his touch, as though even her flesh shied away from him.

Luciel watched their conversation without being able to hear it. M.C.'s sheer terror was painful. He wished he could tell her that he would never let Jihyun hurt her, remind her that he was right here and it was going to be okay. Better yet, he wished he could've had Jihyun taken care of while Jumin and Zen were still in the room. However, without V being able to replace him, it ran too much of a risk of giving them away, and Vanderwood still hadn't shown up. Which meant he could not attack unless absolutely necessary. 

Jihyun didn't even seem to notice her panic, “So tell me, how is she? Is she well?” If it weren't for his hold on her chin, M.C.'s mouth would have fallen agape. What?! Fucking what?!  
“Uh. She's okay.” she was caught off guard enough to answer.  
“That's so good to hear” there's no way that was genuine relief in his voice. This had to be some kind of trick. He nodded to himself a moment before turning his attention back to her,  
“And what did you think? Did you like her? Isn't she wonderful?”  
What in the actual living fuck was his game here? In her confusion, it took a moment to realise he was waiting for her response,  
“Yes, she's very kind.”  
“She is! It broke my heart when she ran off...” he spoke sombrely now, “You don't leave the RFA without consequences, M.C..”

Her eyes widened, was that it? This whole thing was just some elaborate introduction to her punishment?  
“That's why I had to lie about killing her.” he paused, obviously waiting on some kind of response from her. She didn't know which to give, or what he could possible be getting at. Jihyun sighed at her lack of understanding, “I'll put it simply, if they find out she's alive they will hunt her down.” He squeezed her cheeks harshly in one hand, forcing her mouth open, “So either you stay quiet about it,” his thumb caressed her tongue “Or I will make sure you stay quiet about it. Understood?”  
She struggled to speak in his hold, he let her go after a moment,  
“Mr Han asked me about it already”  
“And what did you say?”  
“Nothing, and I won't, not to any of them”  
“Good, I'll deflect his suspicion.” Suddenly he was smiling again, tone all too pleasant, “So you don't need to worry about it!”

Yoosung fumed in place. How dare he smile like that after hurting her?! What was he even saying to her?  
As soon as he was free Jihyun was going to be the first to pay. He swore it to himself.

Upstairs Zen leant against the wall, as Jumin sat himself down beside Jaehee, having already explained that Jihyun sent them up. Zen noticed how she crossed her arms tighter as Jumin approached and realised she had no idea what they had done, or about the plan. He'd have to tell her and quick, both for her own relief and so she'd know who was on her side. 

He sauntered over and tapped her on the shoulder, basing his behaviour towards her on Hyun's previous... action... It felt so wrong that he made a mental note to punch Hyun for his treatment of the women of the RFA. Poor Jaehee having to shrug off his wolf-like behaviour in order to stay undetected.  
“Follow me” he winked and turned, heading to the kitchen. Without being given room to refuse, not that she'd have a good excuse anyway, Jaehee stood to follow the man she thought was Hyun. She hoped he didn't have anything like earlier in mind for now, but had planned for how to turn him down without raising suspicions. In the kitchen, Zen double checked no one was around before leaning in and whispering,  
“Jaehee, it's me, Zen”  
Jaehee, who had initially tilted away from him, relaxed, “How? What happened?”  
“Luciel jumped Hyun when he got close. The plan is to replace them one by one. Right now it's just me, Jumin and you”  
“That's a good move.” Jaehee nodded, “And a relief that we have something to go on.”  
“Yeah, it was Luciel's plan, apparently he sent for help too”

Before Jaehee could reply, they were silenced by approaching footsteps. Sungie turned the corner, pausing when he saw them,  
“In the kitchen guys, really?” he sighed “There is a bedroom, you know.” Zen suddenly realised his proximity to Jaehee and how that must look. Especially since there was apparently something between Hyun and Assistant Kang.  
“What if we want to use the kitchen, Sungie? You gonna stop us?” Zen replied, channelling Hyun's arrogance quickly. Jaehee faked checking the cupboards to hide how cherry red her face felt at that moment.  
“No, but you'll have to clean the counters before we cook. Also Mr Han is coming, so quit it unless you want a third.”  
Zen sputtered as Jaehee froze in place. Gross. No, disgusting! What the hell?! How could any version of himself ever allow that?! Finally Zen found convincing words through his shock,  
“Well he's not invited right now.” Sungie frowned,  
“What? Are you mad at him or something?”  
Zen opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again as Jumin walked in,  
“What's going on in here?”  
“Nothing, just talking.” Zen replied shortly. Sungie rolled his eyes,  
“Well have fun.” and left.

Jumin raised an eyebrow at Zen as Jaehee remained steadfast in not looking at them.  
“She's up to speed” Zen muttered just loud enough for him to hear.  
“Good, now come back into the living room, you have no reason to be out here.” Jumin deliberately didn't mention that he felt like too much of a liability while he was alone with the enemy.  
“Yes, fine.” Jaehee spoke in a monotone voice and turned heel, stepping past Jumin to quickly exit the room, eager to get away from whatever the hell just happened. Jumin watched her go,  
“Did I miss something?”  
“Yes, but I one hundred percent do not want to talk about it.” Zen shook himself off and made his way back to the living room. Jumin, blissfully ignorant, followed behind.

Zen was grateful to see Jihyun had returned, he hadn't been in the basement long, so couldn't have done much harm (right?) and while he was here he wasn't harming or harassing M.C. in any way. Sungie leant on Seven's shoulder as he typed furiously on the laptop. Zen didn't even want to think about the implication of that, given the previous awkward moment. Red sat curled in the corner of the sofa, making herself as small as possible. Zen couldn't help but feel worry for the woman, now knowing what these bastards had done to her. However, given that she had had a hand in capturing Blue, he could not offer her any indication that he wanted to help her. It was too much of a risk. Nonetheless, it still stung when she shifted away from him as he sat down.

Jumin did not sit, seeing Jihyun meant he could head back to the basement and away from all of this.  
“Hold on a minute, Mr Han.” Jumin could have flinched as Jihyun spoke, “Leave her alone for a bit. I want her to think about our talk.”  
“And can I be enlightened as to the topic?” he turned to the blue-haired man, exasperated.  
“It was private for a reason friend, leave it be.” Jihyun smiled pleasantly and Jumin reluctantly sat down. Seven glanced up at their short conversation, but said nothing. Seeing this prompted Jihyun to ask,  
“Any progress?”  
“Some, but not enough. Luciel's got this place locked up tighter than fucking Alcatraz.” Seven tilted his head back in annoyance.  
“So how long are we stuck for?” Zen asked, unsure if Seven breaching the security would be a problem for their plan or not.  
“I don't know yet. Stop asking.” Seven looked at him, annoyed. Evidently Hyun had been on his case about it. Zen held his hands up, backing down,  
“Alright, I'll leave you alone.”

Seven held his gaze a moment, eyes flicking to something, Zen wasn't sure what, before narrowing his eyes.  
“Hey Zen, tell me what happened to Hyun?” Seven set his laptop aside as he spoke.  
“What?” Zen stared at him. How in the fuck had he figured him out? “That's not funny, Seven” He tried to act casual about it.  
“Oh I'm not joking.” Seven stood, followed closely by Sungie, who had looked between the two of them with sudden realisation.  
“Are you sure?” Jihyun regarded Zen closely. Jaehee and Jumin glanced at each other. What should they do?  
“Positive.” Seven huffed out as Jaehee opted to follow suit and stand.

Zen chuckled nervously, “Well fuck.” Feeling the room poised to grab him, he vaulted over the back of the sofa and took off running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Covid test came back negative! I'm finally allowed to go outside and do my own shopping!


	39. Turning tables

Zen didn't know where he was running to, just that he needed to be as fast as possible. Hell, there was nowhere to run really, they were locked in after all. At least while they were chasing him, none of them were untying Hyun. He had to hold out as long as possible, the moment they untied Hyun, he'd reveal Jaehee and Jumin, and then the whole plan would be good for nothing. If that happened, M.C. would be at their mercy again and then- no! Don't think about it, just run!

He made it to the kitchen with Seven and Sungie hot on his heels. A dead end. Grabbing the trash can, he threw it behind himself blindly and was rewarded with the sound of someone stumbling as it made contact. He kicked the wall to reverse direction quickly and had to yank away from Seven's grab. Leaping over Sungie, who was still getting to his feet, he passed Jihyun, just barely avoiding another grasping hand, and flew past Jaehee and Jumin, both only reaching for him for show. Red was barely in the room, and certainly didn't seem excited about this chase, nor did she make any attempt to slow him. He kept running, thanking his years of gym dedication for his stamina. In his rush, he had taken a turn into a part of the house he wasn't familiar with, but no time to dwell on it now, he just had to keep going. 

With everyone chasing Zen, Vanderwood had the perfect opportunity to make his way, unseen, from the garage to the basement. The room was silent as he swung the door open, air heavy with dread. As he looked in, Luciel's voice rang out in a happy stage whisper,  
“Vanderwood! You made it!” he jumped to his feet, evidently less tied up than the cameras had led him to believe, and bounded over. The red-head's goofy grin did not distract from the knife in his hand and Vanderwood backed up a few steps, brandishing his tazer defensively. Had he walked into a trap?!  
“Woah! Friendly! Friendly!” Luciel stopped dead, holding his hands up, knife still in his grip.  
“Prove it.” Vanderwood growled, ready to attack this potential enemy. With a glance to the nearest red RFA member, Luciel leaned closer, without taking a step, and whispered the name of that shit-hole town they had met in.   
“Don't run at me with a knife before identifying yourself, idiot!”despite the harsh words, Vanderwood relaxed a little, “Sit rep. Now.”  
“Seven hostile, Eight friendly including you and I. Three hostiles subdued,” he pointed to Hyun, Mr Han, and Assistant Kang “Everyone else in here is friendly. The guys upstairs that look like those three are friendly, rest hostile.”

M.C. looked between the two. This was Miss Vanderwood? Luciel's maid? By the, what she assumed was   
military jargon, it was pretty clear this person was more than just a maid.   
“Then we have them outnumbered, let's go.” Vanderwood turned to the door. Luciel stopped him, already heading over to M.C.,  
“We gotta get these guys untied first,” he began cutting her, frankly excessive, amount of ropes away, as Vanderwood rolled his eyes and went to help Yoosung. “Oh and Vanderwood? The friendlies are civs.”  
“...Are you fucking kidding me, Luciel?!” Vanderwood grit his teeth. Their advantage was way smaller than it initially appeared.

Yoosung was up and at M.C.'s side before the ropes had even fallen to the floor. Vanderwood moving on to release V. Yoosung's hands went to the ropes a moment, but it was instantly obvious that this wasn't much use while Luciel worked with the knife. Instead, he pressed his forehead to her temple, face scrunched in... pain?  
“Yoosung, are you alright?” M.C. asked worriedly, placing a newly freed hand on his shoulder.  
“I'm so sorry, M.C.. If only I had been there. I-”  
“Shh, none of that. You're here now. We're going to get out of this” her other hand was freed and she pulled him into a tight hug as Luciel set to work on her legs. Yoosung hugged her back, trying to show his promise to make this right, to make them pay, through the contact.   
“We've gotta be quick.” Vanderwood instructed as V was freed, looping some spare rope onto his belt, “One of your guys is getting chased.”  
“You could've mentioned that sooner!” Luciel redoubled his efforts. 

He held off as long as he could, but inevitably, Zen was caught. Cornered in a closet that he had stupidly run into thinking it was another corridor, he had done his best to keep from their clutches, but was quickly pinned.   
“Where's the rope?” Seven asked, as him and Sungie held Zen in place. Jumin, Red and Jaehee hung back, looking in through the doorway from the corridor.   
“It's all in the basement.” Jihyun leant against the doorway, looking thoroughly amused.  
“I'll get it.” Jaehee offered immediately, this way she could warn the others. Without waiting for a response she removed herself from the scene. 

She hurried through the house, took the first few steps down and was suddenly face to face with a stranger. Instinctively, she raised her hands to defend herself when Luciel's bright mess of red popped up from behind him,  
“Jaehee! What's going on?”  
“Who is this?” she backed up.  
“Vanderwood, a friend. What's going on?” Luciel asked his question again. Remembering the name from before, she nodded and turned.  
“Then let's hurry, they've got Zen” with that she turned and head back the way she came. 

The group followed quickly behind Jaehee, Vanderwood and Luciel closest behind, followed by Yoosung. M.C. helped V along at the back. Despite their speed, they kept as quiet as possible as they went, pausing as soon as they heard the other group.   
“You are a good actor, I'll give you that” it was Seven, “But you missed a few details. Aint continuity important to you guys?” he spoke tauntingly “You gave Hyun a bloody nose, which he wiped on his sleeve. I don't see any blood on your jacket, dipshit.” Zen's spat curse was interrupted by another speaker,  
“That's not enough alone though, Seven. You're not one to jump to conclusions. What if Hyun had switched their jackets so he had the clean one?” Jihyun replied, it sounded like he was closest.  
“True, but I'm pretty sure Hyun wouldn't have rope burn on his wrists.” Vanderwood shook his head and signalled for them to retreat as Seven explained himself. 

They returned to the living room, Vanderwood positioning himself as lookout by the door, he spoke lowly,  
“Here's what I wanna do. You-” he jabbed a finger at Jaehee “lure one of them in here alone for us to grab. You three-” he flicked his wrist, indicating M.C., Yoosung, and V “are liabilities, go to the safe room and stay there until we get you.”  
“No!” Yoosung hissed, he wasn't a damn liability and there was no way he was sitting this out! Not this time! There was hell to pay and he couldn't give it if he was cowering away with _him_. Luciel regarded his friend carefully. He had always joked about Yoosung having a yandere side, mostly to cover his worry over the warning flags he could see within the shorter male. It seemed the stress of this situation, and the pain of someone he had subconsciously placed in the same light as his cousin, had brought out the dark streaks of Yoosung's soul. Vanderwood glared at Yoosung briefly, looking to Luciel as if to say 'do something about this'. 

Luciel mulled it over, trapping Yoosung with V of all people? Right now? It could be fine, but it could also spell disaster, even with M.C. there to mediate.   
“He should stay with us.” He spoke the moment he had decided, quickly filling in a plausible reasoning “He's not likely to get in the way and extra hands are always useful.”  
“I don't want to go either!” M.C. protested firmly but quietly “What if the worst happens?! We won't know and we'll be trapped!”  
“M.C., it really is the safest place for yo-” Luciel was cut off by a sharp shushing from Vanderwood,  
“Someone's coming.”

Vanderwood twisted out of sight, staying just on the edge of the door-frame as the footsteps approached. A single set, light, likely female. He pounced the moment she crossed the threshold, hand clamped over her mouth to stifle the inevitable scream. Luciel ran over and helped him wrestle her to the ground. It was obvious that they were well practised in this kind of thing, but M.C. wasn't paying attention to that. She was far more concerned by the total panic in Red's eyes as she struggled.  
“Don't hurt her!” the hushed demand fell from her lips thoughtlessly. Luciel paused, making a show of placing the knife on the floor and pushing it away.  
“Is this an enemy or not?!” Vanderwood scoffed as he did so.  
“This one's complicated.” Luciel shrugged with the vague reply as he restored his efforts to tie her, “Just don't be too rough.”  
“Why do I let you make my life so difficult?” Vanderwood braced himself for the infuriating quip he'd always get in response. Despite this, he heeded the request.   
“Because you love me” Luciel grinned. Idiot.

Once they had Red properly secured, Yoosung walked over to help them drag her over and prop her up in the corner. It seemed her panic had given way to a hateful scowl, but if M.C. knew herself, and she kinda did, it was just a mask. She was so worried about the other her, but Red would come around, M.C. was sure of it, she was just afraid. As soon as the red RFA were taken care of, then she'd see that the blue RFA were good people and they could recover together. 

As they were deciding their next step, which was mostly to stick to the original plan of Jaehee luring one out, a call echoed down the hallway,  
“Hey! What's taking so long?” it was Seven, and by the sound of it he wasn't alone. Several sets of feet this time, as well as a faltering, dragging gate. Likely Zen being pulled along. Luciel and Vanderwood readied themselves by the door, motioning for the others to hide. M.C. and V dutifully ducked behind the sofa as Yoosung pressed further into the corner with Red. 

Luciel turned to retrieve the knife. It was gone. Red couldn't have grabbed it, could she? Then again, it might have just been kicked under the sofa. No time to dwell on it. He'd just have to be wary of an attack from that direction. It was time to fight again, this time with the upper hand. 

The remaining members of the red RFA entered the room, Zen in tow despite his struggling, with arms held firmly by Sungie and Seven. Jumin trailed behind, still doing his best to stay undetected even without the support of the other imposters.   
“Oh hey, another one escaped.” Sungie mused, spotting Yoosung right away.  
“Make that two escaped,” Jihyun added, having turned and seen Luciel by the door, “and a new face.” he acknowledged Vanderwood cheerily.  
“They're all probably out,” Seven noted “likely hiding nearby” They were infuriatingly calm given the situation. Vanderwood shut the door, standing in front of it with crossed arms.  
“What's your name, sir?” Jihyun spoke as if they were at a friendly social gathering.  
“Nunya.” Vanderwood responded shortly, “Nunya business.”  
Jihyun chuckled, “Well then. We ought to get this over with.”


	40. The darker sides of us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence, slight gore

Nobody moved. Jihyun continued to smile pleasantly, attention falling on Jaehee,  
“I'm going to assume, since you aren't tied up and didn't call for help, you're not Assistant Kang.” She shook her head, maintaining distance from the remaining members of the red RFA. Jumin shifted uncomfortably, now the only undiscovered imposter.  
“Hmm.” Jihyun tilted his head, looking far less amused but still jolly, “You all played this cleverly.”  
“This isn't a game.” Yoosung snapped, sharp glare fixated on the blue-haired man “You hurt my friends” Seven laughed, nudging Sungie with his free hand, “That's a face I recognise. Possessive are we, Yoosung?”  
“Don't compare me to him. I'm not like him.” Yoosung clenched his fists, knuckles whitening.  
“Ehhh, speaking as me, I'd say you are” Sungie shrugged. With their enemies focussed on Yoosung, Vanderwood and Luciel were able to creep up behind them, stepping around Jumin. Sensing things would soon get violent again, he backed away carefully.  
“I am not!” Yoosung was nearly yelling now, a single foot stomp emphasising his point.

Before any of them could reply with further provocations, Vanderwood and Luciel took that moment to strike, Luciel tackling Sungie and Vanderwood tasing Seven. Zen broke free from their hold, stumbling forward and turning just in time to see Jihyun grab Vanderwood's hand, twisting the taser from his grip. Vanderwood lunged to retrieve it, shoving Jihyun back in the process. The small device fell to the floor and was promptly crushed underfoot. Seven was about to go for Vanderwood's turned back when Zen joined the fray, seizing his arm and yanking him towards him. 

Yoosung charged, taking advantage of Jihyun's moment of imbalance and using his whole body weight to knock the larger man down. Unfortunately, those seconds of advantage were all he was going to get, Jihyun easily slamming him to the ground beside him, pinning him with a knee pressed to his chest. Jihyun looked up to Jumin,  
“Gun.” he held his hand out expectantly as Yoosung squirmed beneath him. Jumin's eyes widened and he looked around uselessly, realising with apprehension they never removed the gun from Mr Han's pocket. At least he was unconscious and couldn't do anything with it.  
“What are yo-” Jihyun understood midway through the sentence and his composure fell away instantly, pleasant expression replaced with an animal-like snarl. He drew his arm back to throw a punch at the already subdued Yoosung, but was grabbed from behind by Vanderwood and yanked to his feet. 

Hearing the fight, M.C. and V risked looking up from their hiding place. They were distant enough that it seemed safe to keep watching, everyone's focus was elsewhere anyway. It wasn't all too clear, but V could make out the battle before him. M.C. spotted Jumin behind it all, looking nothing but lost, and beckoned him over. He skirted the wall as he made his way over, letting out a sigh as he ducked behind the sofa,  
“Are you two alright?” he muttered, careful not to draw attention towards them.  
“We're fine. A better question is; are you alright?” V spoke just as quietly, touching the other's arm. M.C. felt she saw their long friendship in that single action. Jumin nodded. Seemingly satisfied with their companions conditions, the trio turned back to view the fight. 

Meanwhile, Luciel and Sungie grappled with one another. Luciel was the stronger of the two, sure, but that didn't mean Sungie was going down without a fight. The kid was quick, effectively dodging most of Luciel's attempts to get a pin on him. When that didn't work, he used his smaller size to worm his way free. Perhaps it was because he looked so much like Yoosung, he wasn't sure, but Luciel was struggling to convince himself to do anything that would hurt him. It could have been that he hadn't seen this one do anything particularly harmful. The sharp kick to his stomach knocked that thought from him, as well as the air from his lungs. As he caught his breath, Sungie jumped up and put some distance between them. 

Finally in the mindset the fight Sungie properly, Luciel rose and stalked forward with trained movements. Sungie backed away with the same speed, unknowingly playing right into Luciel's hands. People were so predictable. Once the blond seemed lulled into the rhythm Luciel set, he rushed forwards, landing a punch on the shorter man's shoulder. Sungie barely kept his balance, but still had the wits to dodge the kick that was quickly following. He was about to return the attack when his arm was seized. His underarm hit something hard and suddenly the world was flipping around him. His head hit the floor before his back with a loud thud and groan. Through the stars now dancing in his vision he could see Jaehee standing over him. She glanced to Luciel, pushing her glasses back up her nose. They nodded at one another and each took a side. Sungie noticed too late that they were moving in to pin him, mind still catching up with having been thrown so suddenly, not to mention smacked on the floor. 

They descended on him, Jaehee taking hold of his left arm while Luciel took the right. Try as he might he couldn't shake them off or pull away. He still had one trick up his sleeve. It was gross but desperate times and all that... He sucked in a breath, readied himself, and spat directly into Jaehee's face. She reeled back, disgusted, and that gave Sungie all the room he needed to shake free. He launched to his feet and sprinted away, ducking around the sofa only to come face to face with Jumin. 

Jumin shocked everyone, including himself, when he punched Sungie square in the jaw. He didn't even hesitate and it was a decent punch. At least, it was good enough to stop Sungie in his tracks. Stumbling sideways, he was tackled by Luciel. This time he took no chances, twisting him arm behind his back painfully and resting his whole weight onto his smaller form. Jumin stepped closer,  
“Is there any way I can help?”  
“Yeah, grab the rope and fast. This guy's slippery.” Luciel pressed Sungie's head to the floor with his free hand as he spoke. Jumin nodded and walked over to retrieve it. He paused by Jaehee, who was trying to clean off her face, and handed her his handkerchief wordlessly.  
“Thank you, sir.” she hid her surprise, but it wasn't necessary as he had already moved on to complete his task. 

Zen was still trying to win one over on Seven, blood trickling from his nose from the most recent hit. Seven snorted at the sight, both eyeing one another,  
“Now if that had happened earlier, maybe I wouldn't have caught you so easily.”. It was clearly a taunt, but Zen didn't have enough anger left in him for it to work. His only response was to stare his enemy down coldly. Clearly irritated by the lack of reaction, Seven stepped forward and twisted his foot up, aiming the kick for Zen's stomach. Anticipating a move like this, Zen caught him by the ankle and lifted. Seven was able to stay standing by hopping backwards as he wrenched himself from the hold. Zen moved in as he caught himself, throwing a narrowly dodged punch. 

Inevitably, with Zen's near relentless advance, Seven's back hit the wall. He tried to dodge around but was shoved firmly back into place, Zen's forearm pressed against his throat, trapping him there. For a moment, Zen considered pushing hard enough to cut off his breathing, but shook it off. Had he kept his previous anger he may have done it, but now it was enough to just restrain the other. Seven's arms, however, were still free. He grabbed at Zen's hair and yanked, The pressure on his neck was relieved as Zen grasped at Seven's hands to stop them ripping at his scalp. Coming to his senses over the initial shock of pain, he snapped his knee up sharply, making contact right between Seven's legs. With a strangled cry, the redhead crumpled to the ground.  
“Bastard!” He managed to choke out.  
“Yes yes, _I'm_ the terrible one.” Zen rolled his eyes, pushing Seven all the way down to kneel on his back and hold him in place. 

Jihyun, Yoosung and Vanderwood were the only three still fighting and everyone else who could get involved, was too preoccupied with other things, or unable. Yoosung, to his delight, had managed to land a few good hits on Jihyun, even as the main bulk of the altercation was between him and Vanderwood. Every second that passed while fighting seemed to wipe every thought that wasn't centred on revenge from his mind, but he was fighting better than he ever had in his life, so he let them go. This was when it mattered, after all. Now he was able to help his friends. Now he could make V pay for everyone's suffering. For M.C.. For Rika. 

Jihyun sent an open palmed strike to Vanderwood's solar plexus, trying to quickly end a fight with someone he had realised was a professional. Vanderwood narrowly avoided being winded by the attack by twisting sideways so it made contact with his side, it still hurt, but much less than it would've. He countered with a kick to the shin, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it at Jihyun's face. The temporary cover allowed him to move in closer and land another punch, stepping back out of arms reach quickly. 

Yoosung was spared no attention at this point, and that suited him just fine. He made his way behind Jihyun, considered him for a moment and made his decision. Then he mustered all his strength into a single kick to the small of his back. Jihyun stumbled forward, throwing the jacket away as he took another blow from Vanderwood. With a grunt, Jihyun backed away from the bigger threat of Vanderwood, turning on Yoosung suddenly and grabbing him. 

Scowling, Jihyun twisted Yoosung around and held him like a human shield, between himself and Vanderwood. Regrettably for him, Yoosung was no longer in the mood to accept being a hostage. He craned his neck and bit down, hard, on whatever flesh was closest. Jihyun made a guttural sound and shoved Yoosung away from him, giving Vanderwood the opening to sweep him by the legs and send him back to the floor. 

Vanderwood had no mercy, stamping on his stomach at full force. Jihyun cried out and Yoosung seized the moment, his rage reaching such a peak that he no longer felt it. He felt nothing as he pulled the knife from his pocket.  
“What the hell are you doin', kid?!” Vanderwood chastised, astonished and unknowingly drawing everyone's gaze. He made no move to disarm the blond, unwilling to get within stabbing distance of someone clearly unstable. Yoosung felt nothing nothing as he slashed Jihyun's eyes. He felt nothing as the tall man screamed and thrashed, blinded. He felt nothing as he watched the blood trail down his face and pool on the floor. He felt a deep satisfaction as he raised that knife for the final blow. 

The cries of “Yoosung, no!” from his friends fell on death ears as he plunged it down. Just as it was going to pierce it's intended skin, Yoosung was thrown sideways by something heavy colliding with him. He landed in a heap with, whatever it was, under him. Looking down revealed that it was M.C., wide eyed and trembling. The fog of his rage cleared seeing her look at him in such a way,  
“I'm so sorry M.C., I don't know what came over me.” he gasped, rushing to get off her. The knife was no longer in his hand, but he soon found it. 

Oh how he wish he hadn't. 

The universe crushed his chest as he saw the metaphorical red of his anger had become the all too real red of M.C.'s blood, spreading out from the blade protruding from her stomach as she lay there, wincing with every laboured breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a twitter account @Probably3am give me a follow if you care about my random thoughts regarding mystic messenger(like songs that fit Zen's personality/worldview) and other Otome games, or if you just wanna say hi. I also post there whenever I upload a new chapter.


	41. Aid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild gore, references to past abuse

“I'm so sorry M.C.! I didn't mean to! I don't know what I was thinking! Why'd you have to tackle me like that?” Yoosung's voice broke as he fell to his knees by her side, hands hovering over her uselessly as he fumbled with what to do. Blue gripped her blood sodden clothes tightly, trying to reel in the pain before she spoke,   
“I know you didn't. I'm sorry, I just couldn't let you become a killer like them I...” she touched his cheek gently, upset at the devastation he displayed, a small smear of blood tracked her fingers' path along his skin “It hurts...” she gasped the end of that sentence, hand falling back to the knife. Suddenly, Vanderwood barged Yoosung out of the way, seizing M.C.'s hand,  
“Don't pull it out” he told her firmly, “You'll just make it worse. Luciel, first aid kit, now.” Luciel rushed out of the room to follow the order, after a final check that Sungie was properly secure. 

Vanderwood spared a look to Jihyun, writhing on the floor with his hands clutching his face. No longer a threat. As an enemy his well-being was of no concern, just if he was still able to cause harm. He turned his attention back to M.C.. V took a few steps out from behind the sofa, stuggling to process the course of events. Had Yoosung really just-? No. He was just projecting past events onto another terrible situation that was all. Yoosung wasn't- wouldn't- couldn't- 

Then again, that's what V had thought about Rika. 

The others were just recovering from their shock. Zen was the first to reach M.C., tying Seven's wrists with his belt and sprinting over. He almost skid on his knees as he threw himself down on the opposite of M.C. from Vanderwood,  
“What that fuck do you think a first aid kit will do?!” M.C. winced as he slid his arm under her head and propped her up slightly, cradling her gently, “You're going to be okay, we're going to get help.”  
“I agree. We should be calling an ambulance” Jumin wasn't even hiding his worry as he approached. Jaehee reached M.C. just before him, setting herself beside Zen and taking M.C.'s hand,  
“Yes. Where's my phone. I'll do it.” she agreed with shaking voice as she looked for where the red RFA had left their phones. Jumin set himself at M.C's head, placing a hand softly on her forehead. It felt like a silly, superficial gesture, but he wasn't sure there was anything else he could do. Hopefully, it would be soothing to her at the very least. 

Vanderwood shut them down firmly, “No. We cannot call any authorities, how would we explain the people tied up?”   
“I don't know, I don't care! We have to get her help and soon!” Zen snapped, glaring at the stranger but careful not the jostle M.C.. Yoosung held his head in his hands, eyes fixated on the spreading red,  
“There's so much blood...” he choked out and backed away a few steps.  
“Guys...” M.C. barely spoke above a whisper, and was unheard as Zen turned his frustration on Yoosung,   
“Not helpful!” he hissed to the blond, gaze falling back to M.C., “It's going to be okay.”  
“Guy's, I can't breathe...” she managed to whimper loud enough to be heard. The admission only increased the horror in the room. Everyone began speaking at once.  
“That settles it. I'm calling an ambulance.”   
“Just focus on me. We're going to fix this.”  
“Where are our phones? Doesn't Luciel have a land-line?”

Frustrated, Vanderwood yelled over their voices. “Would you all shut the fuck up?” he waited a moment, making sure he was being heeded, “I can treat this. What was your name?” Vanderwood softened, looking down at the woman.  
“M.C...”  
“Well M.C., the injury isn't actually that bad, it's a small knife. Your chest feels tight because you're panicking, so I'm going to need you, and everyone else,” he gave a pointed look to the others “to try and calm down.” Despite now speaking soothingly, Vanderwood was not winning himself any favours with them, he could tell. Then again, he wasn't trying to, and they were listening to him, so he didn't need to either. 

Luciel finally returned, setting himself down beside Vanderwood, and flipping open the, much more well stocked than average, first-aid box, passing it over. Vanderwood rooted through it a moment as Luciel gently pulled the blood-sodden fabric of M.C's dress away from the wound, cutting away a section around the knife carefully with medical scissors. Years of training and field experience had them working systematically, both knowing exactly what needed to be done for an injury like this. After all, they had seen it many times before.

“Any painkillers?” Vanderwood's tone had shifted again, now detached and professional as he pulled out all he needed to stitch the wound.   
“Nothing strong, or fast acting, enough for this” Luciel responded with a head-shake, unusually sombre. Vanderwood sighed,  
“Well M.C. I wont lie to you, this is going to fucking hurt, but you have to stay still.”  
“Huh?”  
“We're going to pull it out. If you flinch you'll open the wound up more, making the next part worse” he explained, preparing a disinfectant wipe.   
“What's the next part?” she looked up to him with wide eyes, but there was trust there, despite him being a stranger. She recognised he was still trying to help, even after doing so much already.   
“Let's worry about that when we get there.” he hesitated a moment, evaluating M.C..  
After his assessment, Vanderwood looked up to the others,  
“I'm going to need you all to hold her.” He shushed M.C. as she began to protest, “I know you're going to do your best, but I'm not sure you have the strength to stay still alone.” The others did not move.

Luciel took a breath and stood up, walking around to M.C.'s legs,  
“Listen to him, he knows what he's talking about” They just looked at him, faces a mix of disbelief and disgust, “It's what's best for M.C.”  
Jaehee grimaced, but set M.C's hand down and rested her arms across her stomach, leaving a wide berth to the injury. Zen followed suit, laying her back down carefully and laying his forarms over her upper torso as Jumin placed his hands on her shoulders. Glad that they had listened, Luciel knelt between her legs and grabbed just above her knees.   
“W-wait! I can stay still Don't-” Disregarding her protests, Vanderwood took hold of the handle of the knife,  
“And hold.” the group pressed down. Vanderwood pulled the knife from her side, swiping the disinfectant wipe over the wound as soon as it was clear. Blood dirtied the area again immediately, now flowing unimpeded with the knife gone. No going back now, the wound had to be sealed as soon as possible.   
“Let me go! Stop it!” M.C. yelled, trying unsuccessfully to squirm from their hold. The pain stopped registering, the adrenaline coursing through her system urging her to ignore everything that didn't involve getting away from them.   
“You need to stay still! Keep holding, I need to stitch it.” Vanderwood snapped, leaning in to suture the cut as quickly as he could.   
“Please, please!” M.C. had stopped trying to escape, devolving into begging. 

Luciel grit his teeth, horrid realisation pricking at the back of his neck. The others didn't know, didn't recognise the signs, and he wasn't going to mention it. They thought she was just in pain, and if he corrected them, they'd let her go, and that would cause her more harm. Vanderwood was concentrating too much to notice, not that he'd stop until what needed to be done was done. Luciel thanked God for Vanderwood, not for the first time. Poor M.C. had been through so much at the hands of the red RFA - people who looked just like them. Now they were holding her down as a group, her mind was perceiving them as the same threats that had done those terrible things, not her friends doing their best to help her. He bowed his head and did his best to ignore the pleading, as he kept her still. 

It seemed like an eternity, but finally Vanderwood had finished with the wound and motioned for them to let go. As soon as she was released, M.C., wildly scrambled backwards away from them, until she hit a wall, where she curled into fetal position, choking on her own breath.  
“M.C.?” Zen was the first to his feet, and was just taking a step towards her when Luciel seized his wrist.  
“Don't go over there. None of us should go near her right now.” he shook his head.  
“What? Why?” Zen looked between Luciel and M.C., itching to go and comfort her.  
“Think about it. Think about who we look like and what they did to her.” he spoke barely above a whisper, shoving down the memory of the video, but his voice might as well have been booming for the other's reactions. 

Jumin just seemed to shut down, face blanking as Zen's hands clenched and he backed away from M.C., despite already not being near her. Yoosung's legs trembled a moment before giving out entirely. He fell and buried his face in his hands. Jaehee, having no idea of the extent of the abuse, sat up straighter, looking to each of them in turn for answers they didn't have the strength to give. Vanderwood regarded them with a frown,  
“Luciel, deal with him.” he pointed to Jihyun “I'll help M.C.. You'll have to explain everything later.”

Vanderwood walked over, setting himself down a short distance from M.C., making no move to touch her.   
“Hey. It's okay. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you.” He spoke calmly and comfortingly, “Just focus on me, alright?” She looked up, hugging herself tight. Vanderwood kept up the soothing words, keeping a close eye on her responses and adjusting his strategy as needed. 

Meanwhile, Luciel wrapped a bandage around Jihyun's head. It was obvious immediately that his eyes couldn't be saved, even by professionals. The man made no protest or resistance as he was rolled over and tied in turn. He was so compliant that Luciel felt compelled to check he was still conscious. He was. The fight must have just left him. Standing, he checked the rest of the restrained red RFA. They had been unusually quiet the past few minutes, or perhaps he had just tuned them out to help M.C.. The looks he got in return were pure, seething hatred. What were they even going to do with these guys? They had absolutely no after-plan for all of this. He didn't know how to send them back to their universe, the police wouldn't believe the story and they were far too dangerous to keep around, prisoners or otherwise. What's more his RFA were absolutely not in the right state of mind to discuss this. 

He contemplated carrying them to the basement one by one. However, that would run the risk of them pulling the same trick that had gotten the blue RFA free. No. He wouldn't make the same mistake as them. He lifted his glasses to rub his eyes. Missions were never usually this emotionally draining. Physically and mentally sure, but not emotionally. Then again, his friends had never been the one's in direct and immediate danger before. 

V still stood away from everyone, unnoticed by the rest. He found all he could do was watch Yoosung, with occasional checks to make sure the knife was still out of his hands. He could no longer deny what he had seen him do was real.


	42. Emotional Torture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: references to; human trafficking, past abuse

V watched Yoosung as the boy's back heaved with the sobs he was trying desperately to keep quiet. All he wanted was to go and comfort his friends, but with what he just witnessed, he couldn't convince his body to move closer to Yoosung. 

Vanderwood's soothing had quickly had the intended effect. M.C. slowly uncurled and looked around the room, comprehending her friends as friends rather than threats. He pulled the strongest painkillers he could find from the first-aid kit, over the counter stuff, nothing drastic, as she looked to them.  
“I'm sorry guys..” she barely spoke loud enough to be heard.  
“What're you apologising for?” Zen sighed, “We're the ones who should be sorry”  
“You didn't do anything wrong” She shook her head.  
“Christ. None of you need to apologise to each other.” Vanderwood rolled his eyes, giving her the medicine “But I would like to know, since everyone else seems to, how a girl like you wound up with PTSD?”  
“Yes. I think I'm also out of the loop here.” Jaehee asked the question with more worry “M.C., what did the reds do to you?”  
M.C. bit her lip, struggling to find the words.  
“Hey, you don't need to think about it. I'll explain.” Luciel chimed in, sparing her effort. 

Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the mocking laugh of Seven,  
“So we're going to have a pity party now? That's how you guys mark a victory?” he leant against the wall, obviously tired, but not enough to stop him sneering at them all. With the only response angry glares, he continued speaking. “And M.C....” he tutted “Cut the act, sweetheart.”  
“Leave her alone.” Jumin folded his arms “Luciel why are they still in here?”  
Seven gave Luciel no room to speak, “Leave her alone? Why? So she can sit there acting like a poor little victim when I witnessed first hand how much she actually enjoyed me and Yoosung fucking her? Right in this room no less” he meant Sungie, everyone knew that, but he intentionally used one of the 'good guy' names in order to antagonize them further. Not to mention his phrasing implying a dirtier sequence of events than had actually transpired. “And I heard she was quite receptive to the others too.” 

Vanderwood blinked understanding the situation immediately and gritting his teeth. Zen nearly lunged for Seven but Luciel stepped in the way, recognising the deliberate provocation. Yoosung froze, peering out from between his fingers with abject disgust for Seven's words. Jaehee still didn't have the full picture, assuming Seven was merely lying, but she was appalled by his suggestion nonetheless. Jumin clenched his jaw, scowling. 

“Just stop it!” M.C. found her voice against him before anyone else verbally retorted, though it still shook with fear.  
“No! You don't get to sit there and act like you're so innocent compared to us!” Seven spoke angrily now, almost yelling, eyes locked on to M.C.  
“She can because she is!” Zen spat from around Luciel.  
“Oh yeah?” Seven didn't look at him, still watching M.C. “Why don't you ask Kim Cho about that?” The pain on her face almost made it seem like he had physically struck her. He relished in it, still speaking, “because I doubt 'sweet little M.C.' will confess how she lured that girl into the hands of Mr Han and his human trafficking friends.”  
“That's not- I couldn't-” she stumbled to defend herself, completely unable to find the right words. 

“Alright, you've had your fun.” Vanderwood interrupted before anyone could respond to that revelation. M.C. sank back in on herself, numb, fully aware of the eyes trained on her. “Luciel can we toss these guys in the basement?” Vanderwood continued, having no desire to listen to Seven's little speech.  
“Not a good idea. That's what they did with us, and look what happened.” Luciel watched his counterpart with reproach. Vanderwood considered this, knowing he was right,  
“Then just find something to shut him up with, would ya?” Luciel nodded, giving Zen a warning look not to do anything rash as he left to follow the instruction. It didn't matter much, Seven had inflicted the damage he wanted to, sitting smugly in place. 

Sungie, however, still had some choice words to say to stir the pot futher. Though his were more focussed on V, who was still fixated on Yoosung,  
“I know you were with my dearest cousin, so if you keep staring at other me then I might just get the wrong idea.”  
That, as intended, turned everyone's attention to V, who didn't spare him a glance.  
“Why _are_ you looking at me like that?” Yoosung straightened himself a little, meeting V's gaze.  
“You just...” V was caught between himself, unsure if he wanted to vocalise his thoughts or not.  
“I didn't mean to hurt her!” Yoosung protested in response, springing to his feet angrily.  
“We know, Yoosung, she jumped in the way.” Jaehee placated, carefully placing herself between the two, despite their distance. In the midst of this, Luciel returned, gagging Seven and securing him more than a singular belt, ensuring his legs were also tied.  
“But you did mean to blind Jihyun” V backed up a few steps. Yoosung made a noise, having difficulty explaining himself.  
“Did that hit a little close to home?” Sungie smirked, not hiding that he was taunting them “And what did you say happened to your eyes? An accident? Something's telling me that's not quite true~ Are you covering for someone, V?”

V balked, finally turning to face Sungie, “No.” his reaction flagged his response as a blatant lie to even the less perceptive in the room.  
Jumin regarded his friend carefully, taking a moment before speaking, “You told me- you told all of us, that it was an accident.”  
“It was!” V was struggling to speak convincingly. Jumin stepped closer to him, unwilling to back down.  
“What are you hiding about it?” he asked firmly, hiding the betrayal he felt. He had always suspected the story didn't quite add up, this confirmed those suspicions. Sungie had been content to let them argue it out, but grew impatient as V stalled to answer and threw in an accusation to get them moving again,  
“Was it Yoosung? Is that why you're so freaked?”  
“No!”  
“The hell? I never hurt V!” Yoosung and V disputed him at the same time but Sungie just kept going,  
“Someone similar to him then... Come on V, you're the only one reacting this way, there's gotta be a reason.”  
“...Maybe I'm the only one who fully understands what it's like to go blind.” It would've been somewhat more compelling of an excuse had he not presented it so lamely.  
“You're gonna have to do better than that now you've been called out.” Sungie snorted, “Someone similar to Yoosung that you know, hmm...” he gasped, seemingly in delight “Rika? Was the Rika of this universe a mega bitch?” in truth, it hurt him to say it, but he knew it would rile them up well. His RFA were never ones to take a defeat gracefully, he was going to inflict every emotional wound he could, much like Seven had.  
“You don't know anything about her.” V's tone told Sungie his jabs had hit a mark and his grin grew wider, he knew he needn't throw another, simply letting his enemies stew in the realisation. 

Predictably, Yoosung denied it almost instantly, “You're wrong! She's not! She wouldn't!” Vanderwood, not as emotionally invested in this as the others, met Luciel's gaze and jerked his head towards Sungie, a wordless instruction. Luciel almost seemed to wake up, having been swept up in the conversation, he quickly gagged Sungie too, but the damage was done. 

M.C., much like Yoosung, wasn't believing a word of it, suspicious of any conclusions a red RFA member would lead her to. Zen's arms hung limp at his sides as he stood there, at a loss for words, he didn't want to believe it but V's reactions made it all too clear. Jaehee just stared at V, she knew it wasn't wise to weigh in here, so she didn't. Strangely, she found herself concerned for Jumin above all else in that moment, she had never seen such an expression from him. She wasn't sure she was even placing it correctly. Despair? Betrayal? Disbelief? All three?  
“You lied.” A simple statement from him contrasted the complex expression. V hung his head,  
“I'm sorry. Truly. I will explain but we really have a bigger problem to deal with right now.” He was right and everyone knew it, but it's not easy to move on from such a discovery. 

The silence hung heavy and choking until Jumin broke it with a sigh,  
“So what are we going to do with these people?”  
“Send them back to where they came from.” Zen's disgust for the red RFA dripped from his words, “You said it was a code, right M.C.? Luciel should be able to do it.” M.C. nodded but Luciel shook his head,  
“Maybe if I had the code, but I don't”  
“Saeran had it all on his laptop” M.C. added.  
"So that's a no go, I won't be able to get it." Luciel shrugged. M.C. stood, wincing for the pain in her stomach and searching for her phone as the room fell into silence again. 

“What about your agency, Luciel?” Yoosung suggested after some thinking. M.C. began pulling open side drawers, if she could get a message to Saeran maybe he could send the code over.  
“No. Absolutely not. No way.” He denied the suggestion adamantly, “None of you should ever be on their radar. Ever.” he shot Vanderwood a look with the final 'ever'. Seemingly understanding whatever his companion was communicating, Vanderwood pinched the bridge of his nose. Finally, M.C. found all their phones lumped together, pulling hers out and setting the rest on the coffee table.

As M.C. sat herself on the sofa, exhaustion hit her, it had been an incredibly long day, but she wasn't done yet. She opened the texts from Saeran and typed up a message;  
'Saeran! You probably already realised, but you sent the whole RFA over, not just me. I'm okay, we had some trouble but we've caught them all. But now we don't know what to do with them, any chance you can send over the code so Luciel (707, the good one) can try and get them away from us?”  
She hit send and suddenly felt stupid. That wasn't going to work! You can't text other universes! Her head thudded to the armrest, exasperated. 

“I'm sure we'll find a course of action.” Jumin retrieved his phone, “but for now let's make sure we're not going to have any escapees, so we can properly think about it. The other me has a gun in his pocket, we should get that from him”  
Yoosung eyed the phones on the table, “And take their phones like they did from us.” A series of nods signalled agreement.  
“Let's stay in groups, just in case. No one go off alone.” Luciel wasn't taking any chances “Vanderwood, could you go to the basement with Jaehee and Jumin, we'll take care of everyone up here.”

The three did as instructed and Luciel stepped over to his counterpart to take his phone. He stood, and was about to ask everyone to do the same when he saw M.C., she seemed smaller, pale and drained. He decided to leave her be, heading over to Red to get her phone. Besides, the others were already doing what he needed them to. As he slipped his hand into Red's pocket, she looked up to him, wide eyed. She took a quick glance to the others before whispering to him,  
“Please don't send me back with them. Please. They'll be so angry after this, I don't think I'll survive.” The expression on her face was identical to the desperate pleading of Blue when Hyun was getting ready to torture her, and Luciel had no idea how to respond.


	43. Considerations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of rape

Saeran frowned so hard at the text on the screen that they blurred together. How did she know his name... and what in the hell was she talking about? Unless- could this be a trick from his lying brother, it would make sense with that congratulatory little nod to himself as 'the good one'. However, that would also mean Saeyoung, or Luciel, or 707, or whatever stupid name he had given himself, had figured out that Saeran was the hacker behind the 'Unknown' moniker. Should he tell the Saviour about this? No. Not yet, at least. He'd have to dig deeper and figure this out first, otherwise he'd be punished for sure. 

With the Red RFA's phones confiscated, Luciel shuffled around the living room, opening a door, taking a few steps in and then coming right back in and repeating the process.   
“What are you doing?” Vanderwood asked irritably.  
“I need to speak with everyone, without the Reds listening, but I also don't want them unsupervised.” Luciel called while examining his latest spot, “maybe here” Sungie and Seven peered at him suspiciously as he waved the others over. 

Once sure they were out of earshot, Luciel explained,  
“We need to decide what do do with Red. Do we leave her with the other RFA, or keep her with us? She seems terrified of staying with them.”  
“She's a criminal, isn't she? We can't keep someone like that around.” Jumin shook his head.  
“Yeah and she attacked, M.C.. I don't think it's smart to keep her” Yoosung added, wringing his hands together.   
“No, she has to stay! We can't send her back to-” M.C.'s voice hitched and she had to take a breath before continuing, “What they did to me, they were also doing to her. We can't send her back to that!”  
Jumin and Yoosung backed down immediately, the latter reddening with shame.   
“So it's easy then, we keep her.” Zen spoke with finality.  
“It should be easy enough to get her set up somewhere.” V pondered aloud, already making plans. 

“I'm sorry, but it seems I'm the only one who doesn't know what they did.” Jaehee looked between them all as she spoke. No one replied right away, all looking to M.C. to gauge how to say it without causing any discomfort.   
“They're rapists, among other things” Jumin said shortly, crossing his arms. Jaehee's eyes went wide, glancing to M.C.,  
“In that case, I agree. We can't leave her with them.”  
“We still need to decide what to do with the rest of them, since we can't send them back.” M.C. reminded them, wanting to move the conversation away from the painful topic. Unfortunately, it just pushed them into silence, they had nothing. 

Vanderwood watched them coolly, “Someone needs to explain to me who these people are and where they're from before I can contribute here.”  
Luciel took a breath and laid out the situation as briefly as he could. Vanderwood couldn't help but notice how defeated his charge looked, more so than on the rare occasion he actually lost something. The usual, mad hatter high energy had been completely erased. The events of the night had really taken a toll on him, and the rest of them. Vanderwood blinked, processing the information,   
“Well that's... insane.” Had the redhead finally snapped? The others weren't refuting him... It was impossible, he wouldn't have believed it, but he couldn't find any other explanation for this many identical people trying to kill each other that wasn't equally ridiculous. 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Vanderwood waved a hand, “You guys want to keep Red around? A person you already said is a criminal and attacked you?”  
“It's not her fault, she's just trying to keep herself safe.” M.C. defended her without hesitation.  
“M.C., you filled in the same role as her while you were there, correct?” Vanderwood fired the question just as quickly.  
“Uh, yeah. But they noticed the personality change.” M.C. was taken aback by the question, unsure what he was getting at.  
“So, tell me, is what you did with Kim Cho part of that role?” He tilted his head every so slightly as he asked. M.C. flinched,  
“Yes, but-” Vanderwood cut her off,  
“And how many people did Red lure in before she was swapped with you, do you know?”  
M.C. covered her face,  
“You don't understand, they would do terrible things to her- to us, if we didn't comply.”  
“How. Many.” Vanderwood pushed for an answer, ignoring the death glares from the RFA as he upset their friend.  
“More than I could count,” M.C. whimpered, barely audible.  
“I know you only did it once, otherwise Seven would've said more names when he was trying to hurt you.” Vanderwood reached forward and laid a hand on her shoulder, voice more sympathetic now “And look how much that single person hurts you to think about. I doubt you could've done it again if you had to, no matter what they did or threatened. But she did it again and again and again. She struck me as someone who only cares about herself and that proves it.”

No one had a response to that. They remained silent, mulling in the revelation. It didn't matter, Vanderwood wasn't finished,  
“Not only that, but from what I've seen, they-” he jabbed a finger in the direction of the Reds “seem to think they own you. I'll wager they think the same of her.”  
“What's your point? Jumin asked, tiredly.   
“People like them don't just give up when people take their things. If we keep her around, we double their reason to come back again.” Luciel completed the thought, pushing his glasses up and rubbing his temples with one hand.   
“Exactly, are we really going to take that risk for someone who clearly is not a good person?” Vanderwood folded his arms, argument made.   
“We still can't leave her with them!” M.C. was adamant, “No one deserves what they do.”

“Frankly, deciding whether we leave her with them or not is pointless if we have no idea what to do with them all in the first place.” Jumin pointed out, and suddenly they were back to square one.   
“Keep them prisoner, so they can't do any more harm?” Zen suggested.  
“It's too risky, they could escape or someone could discover them. Either way we'd be in heaps of trouble.” Luciel shut down the idea. Silence fell again.

In another universe, the words of M.C.'s text were blurry from Saeran's shaking hands as he squeezed the phone in shock. He had assumed the RFA's phone signals had vanished because Seven had masked them. It never even occurred to him that he might have messed up with that algorithm again. How could he be so stupid?! He got it wrong every other time, what on Earth made him think it had gone off without a hitch this time? Loosening his grip on the phone, he tapped out a reply;  
“I hadn't realised. I'm so sorry. Is anyone injured? The file is too large to put in a text, I'll see if I can email it to you. Lord knows your 707 could probably do way better with it than I ever have.”  
As he sent the message a realisation hit him, he added his question in a second message;  
“How did you get this message to me if you don't have any of the algorithm?”

Without waiting for a response, he began pulling together all his files on the algorithm. Not only the algorithm itself, but all his research too. It would all be needed if Luciel was going to try and use the algorithm. He'd need to inform the Leader as soon as he could, but getting these files to M.C. was first priority, she'd understand that. 

The other Saeren watched these new messages, seemingly from him (though he hadn't typed a single thing), appear on the screen. Something weird was going on, but it seemed he'd have a clearer picture once that email was sent. Though he'd need to be cautious of the contents, this could still be a trick. 

The silence between the Blue RFA and Vanderwood was broken by the chime of M.C.'s phone. She jumped to grab it from her pocket, fumbling as she tried to unlock quickly. Saeran had replied! Wait, what? Confused, she sent through a response,  
“I am so relieved you got this! I don't know how, it was just a text. We had no idea what we were going to do with them. Thank you so much. There were some injuries, but we're all okay.”  
She looked up from her phone,   
“Guy's we can send them back! Somehow I got a text to Saeran, he's going to send over what we need.”  
Luciel made a face that M.C. couldn't recognise, he masked whatever emotion it was quickly and turned to Vanderwood,  
“Hey, could you check on the Reds while I look at this?” Vanderwood raised an eyebrow,  
“Why? We can see all of the ones that aren't in the basement from right here.”   
“I think I'm allowed a little paranoia with them.” Luciel snapped before reigning himself in, “Sorry.”

With a sighed,  
“Fine.” Vanderwood walked out into the room, it was clear Luciel was on edge, so he decided to let it slide. As soon as he was far enough away, Luciel turned to his RFA,  
“Guys, Vanderwood can't find out that I have a brother.” it almost seemed like he was begging them, “Please keep it a secret.”  
“We didn't even know until today,” Yoosung whispered, “Why wouldn't you tell us?” Luciel looked away,  
“It's complicated. Please promise?”  
“We promise, Luciel” M.C. spoke firmly and the others nodded. His shoulders dropped, tension releasing,   
“Thank you...”

Luciel held his hand out to M.C.,  
“Can I see your phone?” she handed it over wordlessly. He took only a moment to read the messages,  
“Are you sure this is Saeran, and not the Unknown of our universe replying?”  
“Well the messages seem like him, and I doubt the Saeran of this universe would know about the algorithm too.” M.C. was fairly certain, though Luciel's question did shed some doubt. Luciel stared at her,  
“...What did you say?”  
Frowning a little, M.C. repeated herself.  
“Unknown... is Saeran in this universe too? The Saeran of this universe?” Luciel asked, dumbstruck.  
“Yeah... wasn't that obvious?” M.C. felt a little mean as soon as she had said it, of course it was obvious to her, she had lived through all of this craziness. V cleared his throat,  
“Is this important?” Luciel ignored him,  
“How do you know? Are you sure?”  
“Other Saeran told me, so I'm sure.” M.C. had barely finished speaking when Luciel rounded on V, hissing,  
“You told me he was safe!”  
“Luciel, I-” V backed up a step  
“What else have you lied about? Huh? How could you do this to me?” Luciel didn't bother following him. Vanderwood returned as he threw the accusations.  
“Luciel! I'll explain, I swear, but we have to deal with this situation first” V held his hands up, defeated. 

Vanderwood looked at him,  
“Don't tell me you're letting what those guys said get to you. C'mon you know better than that.”  
Shooting a glare at V, Luciel turned his attention back to the phone,  
“It looks like the files haven't come through yet... I'll get a computer ready while we wait.” Stiffly, he turned and head to his office. Vanderwood took stock of the situation. The animosity towards V from the Blue RFA had grown palpable. Furthermore, Luciel had been so affected by all of this that he was making mistakes that he normally never would. 

It wasn't exactly part of his skill set, but Vanderwood needed to cheer Luciel up. He had to get him back to his old self, if he wanted to avoid any costly mistakes. It was obvious that no-one here had enough emotional stamina left for another setback.


End file.
